I was just discussing some of this with a friend Hence the inconclusiveness of poetry. It moves on an edge where there is no room for resounding certainties. This is its disconcerting force. My friend feels poetry leaves too many loose ends for her, the meaning is not exact enough so she does not like it. I find a good poem can make a sparkling clear picture, more clear than any 800 page novel. But poetry gives us clear pictures of the ineffable, always pierced by mystery, and that's why I love it.