! 'Poetry Means...Uh...'

When I was very young, Poetry was written by AA Milne. and life was comfy. When I was an adolescent, Poetry was written by pansies for pansies about pansies. though daffodils were lifestyle and exam-inable. and life was scary When I was at college, Poetry was written by a chap in a leather jacket who glared at you angrily on his no-gear pushbike as he rode out to save the world. and life was a cold war and still scary. When I was middle-aged, Poetry was in the assured embrace of the Arts Council and a chap at the BBC and the world managed quite well without poets but life was still scary. Now I am old enough to swop lifestyle notes with Jenny Joseph, Poetry means that a poem's 'text' may be i h8 u BUT it's read right round the world by lots of people. Like you. and life is full of promise... Now that deserves a Metaphor. 'A what? ' said Pooh.