[poh-uh
m] 
| 1. | a composition in verse, esp. one that is characterized by a highly developed artistic form and by the use of heightened language and rhythm to express an intensely imaginative interpretation of the subject. |
| 2. | composition that, though not in verse, is characterized by great beauty of language or expression: a prose poem from the Scriptures; a symphonic poem. |
| 3. | something having qualities that are suggestive of or likened to those of poetry: Marcel, that chicken cacciatore was an absolute poem. |
| po·em (pō'əm) n.
[French poème, from Old French, from Latin poēma, from Greek poiēma, from poiein, to create; see kwei-2 in Indo-European roots.] |