What is poetry? A thread...

"Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.”
ALLEN GINSBERG

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?"
EMILY DICKINSON

"The poet is the priest of the invisible.”
WALLACE STEVENS

"[Poetry] is the liquid voice that can wear through stone."
ADRIENNE RICH

"Imaginary gardens with real toads in them..."
MARIANNE MOORE, 'Poetry'

"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash."
LEONARD COHEN

"Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance."
CARL SANDBURG