How do you know when a poem is finished?
I don’t. Though really, does anyone ever know this for sure? Isn’t that just one of the ways that words on the page take on a life of their own, leading us to places we might not have considered when we started the piece? While there certainly have been times when I’ve thought a poem was finished, going back to it later will often reveal an unintended repetition or some ultra-weak image. Even when I’m reading from my published works (in books, no less), I sometimes change or delete a word. For lack of a better way to say it, the way a poem can continue to squirm on the page long after it seems to be finished will always be one of life’s great mysteries.
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