A serious question: Why is this not a poem?

" So if a poem must contain something of the untranslatable, then the poem occurs in the mind of the reader, not in the poem itself. "

Yes, it absolutely does!  Or rather, not the poem but the poetry.  And a good poet is able to take the poetry from his own head and channel it into others, through his poem.  I know that sounds way too esoteric and wanky but it makes sense in my head (hence the reason I'm not a good poet).  

This discussion reminds me of The Symposium, with a bunch of drunk and semi-nude Greek men sitting around trying to define love.  Everyone has their idea on what love does, but can't quite get down to what it is -- that is, until smarty pants Socrates comes along and quite simply states "Love is lack" (ok, he used more words than that).  We love that which we lack in ourselves -- and poetry to me is much the same.  Poetry gives me something I didn't have before -- a new knowledge or a new way of looking at things, a new insight into the human condition.  The trick with poetry is to use that which we already possess -- the words -- and turn them in such a way that our own brain is reminded that there are different ways to think.

Cows chew grass.  This I knew.  I could also presume, fairly safely, that they do this even in Vermont.  Therefore, I'm presented with nothing new, nor am I stimulated into further thought.