Writing Poetry? Don't be Poetic

Here's a very brief thought for the day (I 've been too busy painting my house-shaped shed - lunar landscape blue, if you're interested).

I went to a talk given by the Royal Society of Literature a couple of weeks ago. Lavinia Greenlaw, David Harsent, Emma Jones and Ahren Warner were all trying to overcome their instinctive diffidence in order to talk about what it's like to be a poet.  One of them dryly quoted Douglas Dunn, "I spend most of my time protecting my gift," but Lavinia Greenlaw came up with a useful insight: she said that being poetic was the opposite of what makes a good poem.  There are several things to think about here, but what interested me most was the notion that being poetic somehow implies being self-conscious, being too aware of how you're writing, rather than concentrating on what you're trying to say.  It seems to me that being truthful -- speaking with emotional truth -- trumps trying to express yourself in an overtly beautiful way every single time

The other interesting thing is WHAT MAKES A GOOD POEM?
Answers on a postcard please...