After looking at “Open is not a License”, I decided to take a look at some of the definitions of the noun “open” in the dictionary, and was inspired to write a short poem around what “open” might mean to people. This poem is dedicated to my own poetry inspiration, my father Don Goodman, who passed away in March 2015 at the age of 75.
What is open?
Is it a gap or a space?
Is it something in public?
Or a practice we chase?
Open is unenclosed
It is an expanse
Did we get here by planning?
Or merely by chance?
Open is an opportunity
A chance to broaden the mind
Free tools and resources
To benefit all of mankind
Open is an aperture
Something you look through
Access for all
Not just the few
Open is a cavern
A vast empty space
A new way of working
Falling into place
Open is a competition
That anyone can enter
A growing global movement
With sharing at its centre