Before poetry is a form of art it is a mode of thinking. Thinking requires the use of words. We think with words in two ways; literal, each word having a precise meaning, and figurative, each word suggesting relationships with things beyond the literal meaning.
All of us exercise both modes of thinking, literal and figurative. Unless he is literally sticky and sweet, any wife who calls her husband ‘honey’ is speaking poetically, even though using a time worn cliché.
The first person who noticed the similarity between two seemingly dissimilar was thinking poetically. For example, the person who noticed the similarity between the heat of fire and the feeling in the body when in love was thinking poetically. We called this form of love passion, because like fire, love can be dangerous. (passion – (L) suffering) Both fire and love can cause suffering. We called this form of love passion because both fire and love can cause suffering.
The first person who called this relationship to someone else’s attention was the first poet.
That poet, a pioneer in the art of thinking, invented the simile, a method for showing a relationship between things not obviously related. In the example offered above, the correlation between fire and love. (Notice the similarity between the word simile and the word similar.)
The main work of poetry is not to inform. There are clearer, more direct ways to transfer information, facts, figures, and opinions from one mind to another. Charts and graphics in some cases work better than words. Poetry is de-formative. It destabilizes and disassembles our normalized way of thinking to make room for a fresh insight. As Picasso said, “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” Poetic thinking liberates us from the tyranny of the obvious so that we can experience deeper, broader, richer dimensions of life.