Lynness: What makes a good poem?

    So, I was driving home from seminary and had the beginnings of a poem by the time I got home.  I wrote the rest and now just need to let it stew awhile before I renovate it (cooking and home repair and poetry all together- I like it).  I was wondering what makes a good poem, and I Googled that phrase and found this page that I thought I would share- lots of quotes from Evidently Somewhat Important People about what good poetry is.  I get into poetry writing jags every now and again and keep a small black hardcover sketchbook for recording poems on the right pages and a bit of explanation about what I was thinking on the left and related sketching here and there.  I think I may be starting another jag now...probably all the Emily Dickinson.  Did you know there are about 1,800 of her poems, mostly published after her death when her sister found them?  I have 600 of them in my book and have been writing (!) in the book (!), but only when my kids can't see.  I make notes of ones I like at the front and underline, etc. throughout.  I am enjoying it, but not exactly like I thought I would.  I would explain if I could, but since I don't know exactly what I expected, I don't know what the difference is.
    This month I am also enjoying a jaunt through Andrew Clements (Abby put me onto him with Frindle a good while back and I've read a few since, but now I'm reading everything the library has), and recently read Autobiography of Face about a girl with Ewing's sarcoma who slowly comes to terms with herself after dealing with the effects of radiation and chemo and having half her jaw removed in elementary school, and Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt, which won a Newberry Honor award this year (my sister works at the library at BYU in the children's section- loves it, and plans to probably get a Master's in Library science at some point- she's a book-a-holic, too).  I'm still working on Barbara Kingsolver's "Small Wonder" (half of what I read made me want to write essays in response.  If I could only do one type of writing, that book demonstrates exactly the kind I would choose to do) and Lisa Belkin's Life's work: Confessions of an unbalanced mom.  Oh, and Ezra, Nehemiah, Ester, Job and I'm working through Psalms.
I think I need to cut back- I'm overdoing it this month!  Some of these things I need to put on my "books to try" list, which I update constantly.  Love y'all, Lynness