Deleuze distinguishes the virtual from the possible. In poetry, the virtual can be the realm of potential meanings, the energy waiting to be actualized in the reader's mind. A poem is a virtual object, its full meaning not fixed until it is read. This concept highlights the creative, participatory nature of reading, where the reader brings the poem into actuality, generating new possibilities for meaning.

Virtual is a concept developed by Gilles Deleuze to distinguish a reality that is not actual but is nonetheless real. The virtual is a potential or an ideal dimension, a field of pure potentiality that is constantly pushing towards actualization. It is not the "possible" (which is a static image of the real) but a dynamic, creative potential. In poetry, the virtual can be the realm of potential meanings in a text, the energy waiting to be actualized in the reader's mind. A poem is a virtual object, its full meaning not fixed until it is read. This concept highlights the creative, participatory nature of reading, where the reader brings the poem into actuality, generating new possibilities.