Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesn't suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important.

Besides the actual reading in class of many poems I would suggest you do two things: first while teaching everything you can and keeping free of it teach that poetry is a mode of discourse that differs from logical exposition.

Poetry operates by hints and dark suggestions. It is full of secrets and hidden formulae like a witch's brew.

If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail.

Some people suggest that the problem is the separation of powers. If you had a parliamentary system the struggle for power would not result in such complex peace treaties that empower so many different people to pursue so many contradictory aims.

An argument fatal to the communist theory is suggested by the fact that a desire for property is one of the elements of our nature.

The possibilities that are suggested in quantum physics tell us that everything that we're looking at may not be in fact there so the underlying nature of being is weird.

There are certain pursuits which if not wholly poetic and true do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees for instance.

I'm not suggesting people abandon musical instruments and start playing their cars and apartments but I do think the reign of music as a commodity made only by professionals might be winding down.

People do dismiss ambient music don't they? They call it 'easy listening ' as if to suggest that it should be hard to listen to.