The meaning of poetry

When I was young I was told poetry was a sense of  feelings and dreams. Poetry now is everything in between. Maybe poetry is Rev.Dr.Martin Luther King , and his feelings of dream and equality, or is it Gandhi's hope for peace in the Middle East  or maybe it's the darkness of Adolf Hitlers anger and hatred or maybe the pressure of teenagers and their stage of life they live in. Whatever it is, it helps with releasing out our innerselves, the part we hide that shrivels up inside. It's what society says we can or can not be. It's the happy, the never ending. Its the happily ever after, the before and the after.  its the passion, the poor, the rich and the old , the people bending. Is it the horror of 9/11, the exciment of change, the religion that's pending. Or the ever going. So what is poetry exactly? What definition describes it perfectly? For me poetry is my life, from love to sadness. On somedays it's the crazy and the madness. It's my way to escape from reality, a way to put things behind me. I CAN BE ME!! Free ,from all things including myself . The trophy I can put on my imaginary shelf. I have no words just feelings inside, selfishness,pride, what else can I describe? Poetry effects me in all my life whether I'm writing it down or keeping it inside. At this moment poetry affects my future and my ability to get  a scholarship. This poem can help me go to college and live. So that I can pass college with a degree, and won't be like mommy or daddy , who scrape for future money. So you see to sum it all up poetry is mine no matter how or what. Poetry means me and you it holds us together like elements glue. Poetry to me is you and I that can leave me with questions such as why.