What is the difference between a poem and a short story?

It's just the set up that is different. Short stories are the equivilant to that of any novel, just shorter. Their set ups consist of paragraphs, and flowing sentences. Poems flow, but they are placed in stanzes, which yes are like paragraphs. Poetry is a wide variety of writing so depending on what you are comparing will determine the differences. HOWEVER, for something to be a short story it just needs to meet a few requirements. A poem, such as The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe is both a short story and a poem. It flows and keeps tempo like a poem, but it also tells a story of a man haunted by the memory of his late beloved. We can also look to Romeo and Juliet which is technically a epic poem but is oftenly reffered to as a story.