What Is Poetry?

Poetry. Having an aversion to the idea of discussing the "craft" of poetry or the "process" of creating a poem, Lawrence Ferlinghetti usually mumbles something about "It's a trade secret" when pressed on the subject. But "What is Poetry?" is the closest he has come to formulating an ars poetica, an ongoing project which he is constantly revising and expanding. Lawrence Ferlinghetti was the first Poet Laureate of San Francisco.