Non-Classical Poetry

Something I have thought a lot about is how I usually see poetry defined as classical poetry, which I don't think is accurate.

Poetry is the opposite of prose, right? Well, prose isn't a genre itself; it is a collection of genres, both in subject matter and length of writing. Accordingly, poetry isn't a genre either. And yes, within classical poetry there are genres such as epic poetry, free verse, and narrative poetry. But I think there are even more.

Sometimes people say that not many people like poetry. I don't think that's true; I think everyone, or at least most people, likes poetry, but only a minority likes classical poetry. Most people like listening to songs. What are songs if not poems set to music? And would you say that Der Erlkoenig (Goethe+Schubert) or Ode to Joy (Schiller+Beethoven) aren't poetry just because they are set to music? No, you wouldn't. And poetry originally was sung; it only started to take on its written form I would guess during the Information Revolution around the Renaissance.

Now, we have many genres of poetry. We have classical poetry (written), spoken word/slam poetry (which I think is relatively popular), children's verse (eg. Dr. Seuss), song lyrics (extremely popular), religious songs, cowboy poetry, etc. And I think that when we consider all the genres of poetry, it is actually very popular and even universal.

If someone doesn't like reading classics like Austen or Dickens, would you say they don't like to read? No--chances are they like fantasy, or nonfiction, or graphic novels. Just like there is a kind of prose for everyone, there is a kind of poetry for everyone.

So what do you think? Do you agree? This is something I feel very strongly about, and I would like to hear other people's thoughts on the subject.