On Writing Poetry ~

". . .but I am not a poet.  I can't necessarily create the thing that I study, any more than a lepidopterist can create a butterfly.
Well, OK, it's not quite that extreme.  Because poetry is made up of words, and we all use words, and I've learned something about how words work to make poetry, I can put words together in ways that I know will be effective; but that's almost a mechanical thing.

To take a risky analogy, a poem by me is to poetry as an illustration by Norman Rockwell is to art.  It's technically competent and might be interesting, or tell a story, or even more the person thinking about it - but it isn't quite art.  It's craftsmanship.

And anyway. . ., a poet is supposed to be a gentle soul and fascinating.  I fail on both counts."
~  Laurie Miller

"The figure a poem makes.  It begins in delight and ends in wisdom.  The figure is the same as for love."
~ Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) American Poet. Collected Poems (1939) "The Figure a Poem Makes"