Things Poem by Sandra Feldman

Very true, Writing without feeling, Any art or relationship without feeling, is hollow. Thank you.

Your second stanza lists the essentials of poetry: words, music, tender feelings.But whenever we make such a basic list, we are also giving our personal viewpoint on the subject. I don't think any other poet would would object to words and music, but tender feelings? No doubt some confessional poet would call that element sentimental; or a Charles Bukowski-type poet would growl into his whiskey; or a Poet of Witness would point to the World's Suffering - my point is - you can never find the THINGS everyone will agree with. It's the curse of the third thing in the list. The Muse tells us, Choose what makes sense to YOU! So I endorse your choice of TENDER FEELINGS. What better role for our poems to play than to inculcate tenderness into our readers?