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Is A Poem Ever Finished? If ever there was a symbol of never-ending frustration, it is the image of poor, naked Sisyphus pushing that boulder uphill only to have it come rolling back on him, each time. To write a poem is to experience much the same, thankless, often exhaustive revision, and like Sisyphus, we are nakedly vulnerable to any number of things in the midst of our labors. Pangs of self-doubt are like a canker that makes the mind sore with niggling perfectionism, and can needle until we are nearly mad. How often have you looked at a thing sent out or posted on some board and thought, "My GOD! What was I THINKING?" It happens to all of us, and I am saying not only does it NOT become less as time goes on, it's apt to become much worse. That is because the better, the more honed, the more sure of your own voice, the more you will find fault with what you've written. The demands of yourself are greater as poetry becomes not just 'something you do because it's fulfilling'--it becomes craft. Only those who are deluded into thinking they are far better writers than nearly anyone else, are smug in their finished work. The vast majority of us will often cringe in going back and reading work that--if not finished--at least has been submitted in some way that is semi-permanent. Always look at what you've written as the best approximation you had at the time to describe a feeling, an event of the heart or a picture of the world. The temptation will often be to overwrite--to work and work at a thing until it's wearing clothes that do not fit it. Relax: we all do this, and what it takes is a carving knife and a bit of grit to begin to prune it back again. We are not cutting diamonds, so that one misguided hit will render it ruined; in most cases, walking away, putting space between you and the words is all that's needed to know where to begin the scissoring. The good news is, readers do not live in your head, and and will often apprehend a far better view of what you've accomplished than you will---pushing behind that rock. So don't be too hard on yourself. |
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