What Attracts YOU To Poetry?

I was pondering this question early this morning...Sylvia Plath once said: "writing poetry is an evasion of the real job of writing", and I couldn't agree more. It's what you do when you lack the concentration and patience to write anything longer! I started out writing short stories and novellas, but somewhere along the way I became lazy and discovered that I could cover a lot of ground in a few lines through the medium of poetry. So I began to think: why slog over pages and pages when I can say it in a few lines? That's what really attracts me to poetry: the fact that it is (relatively) fast paced and I can cover a lot of ground in a few lines, and also address a wide range of subjects (the male poets on this site are an added bonus! hehe) So, what attracts YOU to poetry? Is it laziness and a short attention span, as in my case? lol

Update: Having read what everybody has to say, one thing is clear: there are as many different viewpoints and opinions on this subject as there are poets! I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek and flip when I said I write poetry out of laziness. What I meant was that I do not have the patience and concentration to focus my thoughts in one direction over a prolonged period of time, as one must do when writing a novel.

It's good to see some lively debate opened up on the subject of poetry! Hopefully, we can learn to appreciate the many different styles of writing that co-exist on this site. Is there any 'right' or 'wrong' when it comes to artistic expression? So, let's be kind to our fellow poets and respectful and appreciative of their talents, because each one brings something different and valuable to the table.