Poetry is the use of precise, concise and condensed words that can resonate on many levels, with layers of meaning. Poems are words arranged in patterns of sound and imagery that can create both an intellectual and intellectual response in the reader. Across different cultures and traditions poetry has universal usage, perhaps performed with music. Song lyrics are a different genre, since they are deliberately written with musical information, with refrains and repetitions that do not function as well without the music. Yet, in the right hands, poems can function as song lyrics with exciting results as shown by Gabriel Kahane, Eric Moe, and many more.
