Stopped being a poet, say (6)
I believe the answer is:
barred
'stopped being' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a poet say' is the wordplay.
'a poet' becomes 'bard' (bard is a kind of poet).
'say' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'bard' is a homophone of 'BARRED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for barred that I've seen before include "Refused entry to local pub" , "Refused access to, say pub" , "Prohibited" , "Precluded, obstructed" , "Excluded, blocked" .)