View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-a-poem-a-poem-melissa-kovacs What exactly makes a poem … a poem? Poets themselves have struggled with this question, often using metaphors to approximate a definition. Is a poem a little machine? A firework? An echo? A dream? Melissa Kovacs shares three recognizable characteristics of most poetry. Lesson by Melissa Kovacs, animation by Ace & Son Moving Picture Co., LLC.