# What is Open?

> [Richard Goodman](https://github.com/costoffreedom/costoffreedom-book/tree/2206d40f4fbd41d7489de1da00d444b3d56f0f0a/book/appendix/attributions.html#richard-goodman)

> 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


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