What Makes A Poem Good Or Bad? Poem by Denis Martindale

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What makes a poem good or bad? And who sets standards now?
Must such a poem make me glad? Or make me sad somehow?
A billion poems to peruse, to view some once again,
And if from these to find you choose a good one now and then.
Or must some winner from them all be judged to beat the rest,
As if to let the others fall, as if we're not impressed?
Or is there one distinctive theme that casts each vote that way,
Some prayer or lovesong thought supreme there's nothing left to say?
Or could it be so eloquent that it was bound to please,
Believed that this was Heaven-sent, so everyone agrees?
What if the Saviour wrote such things seen in the Gospels now?
Our Saviour, called the King of Kings, to whom each knee must bow?
Yet God has caused a billion souls to share their words on Earth,
Because of this, they played their roles until each proved their worth.
They all wrote both the bad and good, such that they learned so much,
So give respect to those you should, if still your hearts they touch.


Denis Martindale. March 2021.