Can Greeting Card Verse Be Termed Poetry?

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A friend like you

Makes life's journey

Worth the hard times

When you help me through.

Here's wishing you health

And happiness on your special day.

What, never?

Some, yes. Some, no.

Greeting Card Merit
Just as art can be interpreted in so many different ways as to what actually is art, I believe poetry can mean different constructs and different ideas to each individual person. However, with poetry, there are established guidelines that have in the past outlined what is and what is not poetry. But we are challenging those outlines and constructs every day with new ways and styles of writing. In my estimation, greeting cards can easily present poetry, but it is a segment of poetry that I do not find comparable to, say, the works of Sexton or Wordsworth or Plath (unless, of course, used on the card!). But, to try to answer your question more definitively: Yes, I believe greeting card messages can technically be defined as poetry, though the literary merit behind the words does not seem to be as estimable.