Understanding Poetry

I think I have finally figured out poetry.  Not "fun" poetry with jokes and stories, but difficult to understand, deep poetry.

Certain poems can only be understood if you are in a certain mindset.  The beauty of this is the restriction it places on who can comprehend it.  It's like a secret book club, where only serious members are allowed.  If you are not in the right mindset, you will simply dismiss the poem as "dumb", "boring", or "incomprehensible."  Another comparison would be to stick-insects.  Walking by, it's just a stick.  But if you look closely, you might notice a little bit more.

I really liked my last comparison of poetry to a stick-insect, so I decided to write a poem about it.  How appropriate.


"The Stick Insect"

I saw a stick insect today.
It was on the side of a busy road.
They thought I was staring at the ground.
Maybe I lost a contact.
It was funny.
Disproportionate.
I know why it's called a stick insect.
Is that what it's really called?
Phasmatodea sounds like a disease.
I told a friend to come look.
Cool.
I thought I found something special.
Oh well.
Maybe everyone else lost their contacts.