Punctuation use in poetry should be the same as in prose. It should add to and compliment the piece. But given that poetry is dependent on the style of the author, punctuation is not necessarily a part of it. Authors can omit the punctuations entirely and depend on line ends and breaks to signify the pauses.Some authors find it cumbersome to bother punctuating their work while others can pepper them. I have encountered poems with commas after each word. There was even one with nothing on it but just one word "I" and a comma.
There are authors who depend on the "spoken" piece. Their rhyme scheme and meter is so dependent on how they hear their poem spoken specially in free verse. Nevertheless, I think they should have some punctuation because not only should they be "heard", they should also be "read". Reading them without punctuation sometimes is also very difficult.
The point is moot. But just to make it light, here are some old jokes about punctuation...
Dear John
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Punctuated differently:
Dear John
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria
and:
A professor was trying to convey the importance of punctuation. On the blackboard, he wrote:
woman without her man is nothing
The men punctuated the sentence like this:
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
However, the women knew how it should be punctuated; they did as follows:
Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
and lastly:
A panda walks into a deli. He orders a Rueben and eats it standing up. Then he pulls a pistol from his pocket, shoots twice into the ceiling, and heads out the door.
The clerk calls out, “Hey! What’d ya do that for?”
“I’m a panda bear.” The bear tosses a pamphlet toward the clerk and walks out.
The clerk opens the pamphlet, and sure enough, it says, “Panda: a bear-like creature. Feeding habits: eats, shoots and leaves.”