Discussing the Possible Opposites of the Poetry IS, itself, a POETRY--Yeah!

Thesis ONE:
Florid prose is not poetry; in fact it is often very close to being the opposite of poetry, rhetoric. The public seems to sense this. The Dadaist poetry of Tristan Tzara is considered poetry, even by people who neither like nor understand it. The last page of the Garden of Cyrus of Sir Thomas Browne or the sermons of Donne are beautiful rhetoric.
~Kenneth Rocksroth, "Unacknowledged Legislators and Art pour Art."

Thesis TWO:
In one syllable--Hisssss!  Thank you, UCSteve!

Thesis THREE:
Very ernest comedy. An excerpt: "The primary difference between comedy and poetry is that in poetry, the responsibility of entertainment is transferred back to the reader. Entertainment is a big responsibility, and the comedian has to carry it on his shoulders every thirty seconds. And so poetry sucks." You go, gtoosphere!

Thesis FOUR:
Living is the opposite of poetry. Poetry is the recollection of living, or, more often than not, the lament of having not lived. Or worse yet, merely the contemplation of living. My advice to you, Ms. Harper, is this: Live. And keep living. And never stop to look back to write about what you have lived and observed and overcome, lest you turn into a pillar of salt. This desert life is already full of such monoliths.
~P.S. Baber, Cassie Draws the Universe

Thesis FIVE:

Slainte, Thadiwyn!