"The more one reads poetry, the less tolerant one becomes of any sort of verbosity, be that in political or philosophical discourse, be that in history, social studies or the art of fiction. Good style in prose is always hostage to the precision, speed and laconic intensity of poetic diction. A child of epitaph and epigram, conceived indeed as a shortcut to any conceivable subject matter, poetry to prose is a great disciplinarian.

"It teaches the latter not only the value of each word but also the mercurial mental patterns of the species, alternatives to linear composition, the knack of omitting the self-evident, emphasis on detail, the technique of anticlimax."

(You can read the entire essay here:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/12/books/how-to-read-a-book.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm)

And if Joseph Brodsky's opinion (or mine) doesn't cut it, consider these words by poet William Carlos Williams: "It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."

You can learn more about National Poetry Month here
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Poetry_Month), and I'll be sharing ways you can celebrate it -- after you're finished celebrating National Chip and Dip Day, of course!

Meanwhile, if you've ever wondered what makes a poem a poem, or if you've ever wished you could be confident about writing poems of your own -- or if you want to unlock the secrets of poetry that can make your writing more powerful, check out "Poetry Rocks: Tap into All Poetry Can Do for You." Details are below. I'm so sure you'll not only enjoy it, but also find it immensely valuable, that I'm offering a money back guarantee.

Happy chipping, dipping, and sipping,

Maureen