National Poetry Month?

April was National Poetry month, so I decided to broaden my horizons by reading a poem a day (courtesy of The Borzoi Reader). What I realized very quickly is that, like short stories, poetry is just NOT my cup of tea. Out of an entire month of poems there were only a handful that I really understood (does that say something about me?!) and even fewer that I really LIKED. Here's a sampling of what I read this month:

The ones that I enjoyed:

• Consider Me, by Langston Hughes - this one was REALLY good!
• A Phone Call to the Future, by Mary Jo Salter - I can see the truth in this one
• Epitaphs of the War, by Rudyard Kipling - there were parts of this that I really enjoyed and other parts that were just ok

These were just awful (sorry if anyone is offended):

• Mountain View, by Mary Kinzie
• Live Model, by Marie Ponsot

And these just made me say "Huh?":

• Bild, 1959 and Publication Date, by Franz Wright - WHAT?!
• Being Stung By A Bee on the Lexington Avenue Local, by John Hollander - the format of the poem actually made it hard for me to read and ended up giving me a headache :(
• Lightning Strikes the Protein-Rich Postcambrian Tide Pool, by Richard Kenney - is it just me, or does this not make any sense at all?!

Did anyone else read poetry last month? Or maybe you read it regularly? Or even write it! I'd love to know what you all think about poetry ... what is the big draw? What makes a poem "good"? Even better, what makes a poem "powerful" or "meaningful"? Like I said, for the most part I just don't get it!


[Thanks to Bibliolatry who got me thinking about this.]