As a Canadian Inuit poet explained to the Danish explorer Rasmussen over a hundred years ago, "Songs are thoughts, sung out when people are moved by great forces, and ordinary speech no longer suffices".

And so it is for good poetry, that which "begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness" and is written for human - not academic - consumption.

It is a rare talent that can make the subject "glow like coloured glass in a black and white world", as was Al Purdy's stated aim.

copyright: Rosella Melanson, First published in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal April 2001.

That said:

Why the hell should poetry be turned into some sort of contest? Seems to me some people could turn taking a shit into a competition....good grief!