“[R]ead it aloud. Do I stumble over my own words? If I can’t get it out, the reader will stumble getting it in. [Then], read it to others. I find out a lot that is wrong when I read to others, even in public. Keep a pencil handy. [And then], or earlier, run it by another poet, or at least someone who knows how to read poetry. There will be something I did not see. Something insufficient, and they’ll suggest an alternative. I may not like what they offer, but from that a third option arises that is best of all.
“A good poem bears repetition. Like a good melody, you can hear it over and over and it still bears up. In the end, I do not know if I have written a poem. Years later, I may want to revise it again. Usually, I don’t get the chance to or take the trouble.”
