a point arose about this is not poetry

[tectak]

I don't really agree with your narrative point. Would you consider this Emily Dickinson poem more prose than poetry, because there is a clear narrative? Or is it a prose poem? But then again, it's written in verse not prose.

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.

No, this is not prose poetry because it has strict syllable counts 8/6 and it has stanzas. This is blank verse. Prose poetry has no meter, rhyme or structure, but is very poetic. Here's a great example, by E. Alexandra:

There were tiny hounds sniffing out their gilded cages. Fireplaces
chaste, unlit and beds soft as the pears I ate from palms outstreched.
The hem of my dress was wet from the fountain and finally it lay on
the floor like the slick blue skin of a fish. We danced silver as a
shiny hook. I heard them clap: red nails flashing smiles. One
misplaced kiss, one eye shut. The concierge bald and fat, cuddling
his little pink prick. The elevator stuck. The city was singing.
Someone was taking pictures. My legs splintered at the hips, and
that night New York wrecked and swelled inside me. A beautiful girl
is a great storm, slapped around by the hands of her own desire.
She lifts up the green skirt of Central Park, wading twelve floors
below, and wishes once more for coachmen and carriage: to be salt
and tear in the horse’s eye, to dissolve beneath his blinders.

AT LAST!
Quote CS above[b] Prose poetry has no meter, rhyme or structure, but is very poetic. [b]
Here is the encapsulated point. "This not a poem" is an entirely different fish from "This is not poetry"
On a bad day I could try to excuse either comment as valid crit but something warns me away from "This is not a poem" because of the danger in upsetting the pride of the poster who thinks that is what "it" is. On the other hand, "this is not poetry" is always valid as it is a comment (opinion) on the content of the effort.
We can argue all day about prose/prose poetry (and the difference is?) or prose/free verse (and the difference is?) but when we see "poetry" we know it. Almost equally, when it ain't poetry, we know it.
Funny how we can hugely endear ourselves to another by critting thus wise;
"Ah, this is pure poetry" but cannot say "This is not poetry" for fear of being asked to prove that we know what we're talking about.
Well, I know poetry when I see it. So what do we want? Another category?
OK. How about this as a sub-divide...good poetry/bad poetry. Suck on that.
Best,
tectak

---

i feel for dale yet i'm not sure i've ever said to someone this is not poetry, i have skirted such ideas by saying this is prose etc.

(i'm just getting the ball rolling)
and if i wasn't such a thick skinned piglet i'd be aghast at being told my poem wasn't poetry.

i think leanne has a valid point in pointing out that one person's non poetry is another's good poetry or not.

i alos think some should be able to say this is not what i see as poetry, which is not the same as "this isn't poetry" being old school if someone told me this isn't poetry i'd more want to know why not than worry about what had just been said.

all the above aside, i'm one of those people who try to be honest without being harsh (and yes, sometimes i fail) sometimes harsh is the only way, my opinion on the said poem is this, no pics in serious poetry and i did see it as a poetry. it needed an edit as most poetry does on this site but it had some good lines, (i'll leave feedback later)

this thread isn't about that said poem though,

it about all the other things i mentioned.

I said " This is not poetry". Dale said "This is not a poem" but he is a better judge than me.
Best,
tectak