What Makes a Good Poem?

[Bernice Ayo-Ajayi]

With the general style of poetry changing (am I the only one noticing?), what, in your opinion makes for good poetry?

The rhymes?
The depth of the message?
Clarity of the message?

I think that a poem either needs to be short, or very catchy from the start if it must be long, or most people won't read till the end. What's your take?

[Destinypayne1997]

As a person with high interest in poetry from a young age, I used to get hooked onto poems that rhymed. However, as I get older it has become less about the rhymes and more about the words that speak to me and the words that speak the truth. Wether it be relating to a past or current situation in my life, or about political issues in the world. R.H. Sin for example, rarely rhymes in his poetry but speaks from a very relatable point of view!

[Emma_watson]

That's really nice....have you read the work of Walt Whitman
?

[Jennashby_87]

I’m not going to lie I’m not a huge poetry person. If they are short, more like quotes I can focus my attention on them better than when they are really long. Also sometimes I find poetry very abstract so I have to be in a certain type of mood to focus on it enough to understand them with some clarity of my own.

[kathey]

I think a good poem is a poem a reader can identify with, understand. A poem that evokes emotions when read. Certainly not everyone will relate to or be able to interpret the poem but if the poet can relay to an audience his/her thoughts then it's good.

[timur777]

Deep metaphors, the skillful articulation, meaningfullness and lyrical rhymes imho.

[Krislynn+]

Poetry is another way to make short stories or give a reader an inside of who you are and what your about. The subject can go many directions but in a lot of cases it always leaves us a little less tense and alot more relaxed, a mellow stage to rest at night. Poetry is also person of interest, but to me all poetry is a form of truth and a good reading.

[Jasmine Zenger]

Poetry is kinda like connecting to the reader in away that they have felt before

[aldoralos]

I'm a poet so I have to answer this one. Many reasons, including feelings that can be felt, true stories; truth in general is the poets first call to order, in my opinion. If you can relay in words all your truest thoughts and make people feel or understand it somehow, whether lyrical or not, is a good poem, to me. I'm sure there are more reasons I'm not thinking of at this moment. This is it in a nutshell.

[Rainyareads]

Well you can't say that long poems don't make a good poem. It depends on the reader and at the situation he is in; whether he is patient to complete a poem or not, whether he likes poems or just quotes, etc.
What makes a good poem, as many said, is the authenticity or the truth. Was this poem written for commercial purpose or was it something the poet wanted to release from their mind and say it to the world?
Poetic devices like rhyme, metaphors, personification, imagery, etc enhances the poem too and makes a difference. And when the poem speaks something so common and so simple, yet not spoken about frequently - it makes it even better.
I personally like poems that are simple and unique, the ones that speak of the things around us that we see, but do not notice.

[Zyo_610]

What makes a good poem is the feeling that you would begin to get the more you read through the lines of the poem. The expression and message that certain poem writers try to strive for or have the need to send into the world, most readers would tend to have an understanding of the meaning that poems portray.

[Tobewankenobe]

I think there are so many things that make a poem good. I'd say the one way I'm 100% transported is if I cry.