How has poetry evolved in modern times? Has communication and technology affected the art form - or have musicians simply become the poets of our times?

Like all forms of literature, poetry has evolved with the times, and I'd definitely agree that some contemporary poetry is influenced by modern technology and communication advancements.

Musicians as Poets

I wouldn't call musicians poets, just as I wouldn't call graphic designers, painters—they may be similar in some respects, but they're still ultimately different forms of artists.

I agree that some contemporary lyricists are poetic in their work; of course, I wouldn't consider Justin Bieber a poet, but lyrics by contemporary artists such as Nate Reuss (Fun.), Neil Hammond (The Divine Comedy), Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and Nick Cave have come up with some brilliant, almost poetic lyrics recently.

David Bowie and Leonard Cohen, although not so recent, have also written some beautifully poetic lyrics in their time.

Contemporary Takes on Traditional Forms

E. E. Cummings is one example of a contemporary poet who has taken the traditional form of the Petrarchan sonnet and subverted and modernised it. His work speaks and challenges the conventions of the sonnet, and could be said to have modernised the form in his own way.

Rattle is a great site if you're looking for modern takes on traditional poetry. There are poems on this site that are written in traditional forms but address contemporary issues, and often subvert or play with the form in order to illustrate the point they're making in the poem.

Yes, poetry has evolved.

I tend to divide poetry into two distinct periods. There is modern poetry and there is classic poetry. Classic poetry is not defined by its forms or structures but by the dividing line known as Ezra Pound, the leader of the Modernist and Imagist movements.

Pound said to "make it new." No other poet or critic has had the influence in 20th century poetics that Pound has had. He influenced a lot of more successful and well known poets, including T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, the Beats, Black Mountain Poets, Language Poets, and even novelists like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce.

Modern poetry has become much more prosaic. Pound isn't the only person who has influenced poetry in that direction, but his philosophy of poetics certainly made a mark.

Technology has changed the way poetry is read and marketed, naturally. Poets are posting their poems on Facebook and on their own blogs. Poetry is now being published on the Kindle and in other e-book formats. I invented a Twitter hashtag in 2009 that is still being used today (#twitpoem), and not just by me.

One way that technology changes poetry is through the invention of new forms. The #twitpoem experiment is an example. Poems can't be longer than 140 characters, including the hashtag. How's that possible? I explain the #twitpoem form in my e-book Twitter Poems.

The Internet has spawned other new ideas about poetry, such as Flarf, a style that relies upon taking actual texts from the Internet (social media, forums, bulletin boards, search results, etc.) and turning it into poetry.

As for song lyrics being poetry, I'd definitely say that they are. Whether they make for good poetry or not is another question. Some do, some don't. The reason they are called "lyrics" is because they are indeed poetry.

Poetry is made up of two elements - narrative and lyric. Lyric poetry is more sing-songy, like musical lyrics. This has always been the case. Go back and read traditional poetry that uses rhyme and meter and they are examples of lyrical poetry. Narrative poetry, by contrast may rely on traditional poetic elements, but their purpose is to tell a story - much like you would find in a novel or short story. Epic poems like Iliad and Odyssey are narrative poems.

So where do song lyrics reside? If they are lyrical, they are lyric poems set to music. If they are narrative, like Harry Chapin's "Cat In The Cradle," then they are narrative poems set to music.

(I apologize for the excessive self-promotion. I have tried to link to sources that were the best examples of what I'm talking about. Here's a non-self-promotional link to Kindle poetry books. Below is a poetry video to serve as an example of how YouTube is being used to change the delivery of poetry.)

I think that the Internet and technology has made a platform for anyone wishing to put something out there. Before you had to wait for someone to listen to you and take you seriously. These days we have an audience at our fingertips. I think it's a good thing. Look at MySpace. It launched a lot of now well known names. If it wasn't for that, they might still be undiscovered.