The song was written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, who don’t seem to have written much else of note, which is a shame because these are among the best pop lyrics of all time.
When I see my baby
What do I see?
Poetry
Poetry in motion
Poetry in motion
Walkin’ by my side
Her lovely locomotion
Keeps my eyes open wide
Poetry in motion
See her gentle sway
A wave out on the ocean
Could never move that way
I love every movement
There’s nothing I would change
She doesn’t need improvement
She’s much too nice to rearrange.
Poetry in motion
Dancing close to me
A flower of devotion
A-swaying gracefully
Whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa
Poetry in motion
See her gentle sway
A wave out on the ocean
Could never move that way
I love every movement
There’s nothing I would change
She doesn’t need improvement
She’s much too nice to rearrange
Poetry in motion
All that I adore
No number-nine love potion
Could make me love her more
The reference in the last verse is to Love Potion No 9, a hit for The Clovers in 1959
and subsequently The Searchers in 1964 (in the US; it was not released as a single in the UK).
The 1961 recording session of Poetry in Motion was supervised by the legendary sound engineer Bill Porter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Porter_(sound_engineer) and featured saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer.
It got to No 2 in the States in November 1960 and No 1 in Britain in January 1961.