A poem on poetry: it's not unusual to define poetry in terms of feelings... expressing, articulating, exploring, etc. This is what writers of poetry do, and what gives the poem its purpose, its value. The following is a poetic commentary on the conventional wisdom:

POETRY IN TIME OF WAR

Feeling lies
to us

Needs to lie
to keep the
heart from
disappearing

From dying inside
strangled by
compassion

A dread heart pumps
cold blood
chilled by rage

Flickering candles
can’t survive
cruelty’s hurricane

Dead women
and men in the ground
grieving
wrapped in their children’s
bones

Can see only truth
when the heart
is lost, beating
by blind force of will

Love pumped out
displaced by murder
injustice

No, not about feeling
poet
send your feelings
into exile

Tell only the truth
cold and bitter

by don Brennan