When I worked on a poem, it was the most important thing in the whole world. Until recently, practically all my poems were generated from my journals. When I wanted to convert an entry to a poem, the time I spent working on it was the most important thing in the whole world. I would lose myself in the poem.
Time would disappear. I would first want to get it (the particular experience I wanted to capture) all down. That was the function of my journal.
I was not afraid initially of being redundant. I knew I could go back and eliminate the repetition. Then I would go back, condense it, shape it, get it to the point I could not do any more with it.
Then I would read it to my wife and listen to her reaction and any suggestions she may have. And go back to it. This may happen the next day or whenever I had time although I did not want to lose interest in the poem.
I would again look at, refine it and polish it, see what I could eliminate, what got in the way, see if any phrase needed rearranging, if the timing was wrong. I did not want to tamper too much with the original. I would work with the poem until I could not do any more with it again. I would have my wife hear it again.
I was very attuned to how it sounded out loud. Did it need emphasizing here or there, did I like the way a word or phrase or line sounded to my ear. At some point I considered the poem finished. A lot of this was done by instinct. Some poems I am never happy with. And others I simply discard or look at some other time in the future.
Down the road I may venture to read it in public. That takes a lot of courage. Many do not make it that far. Few get to the keyboard. I have to feel the entry has possibilities. That is somewhat the process of my poems.
Tags: being redundant, capture the experience, condense the poem, courage to read in public, editing your writing, how a poem sounds out loud, instinct, listen to reaction to poem, listen to suggestions about poem, lose myself in the poem, my journals, poem, poetry, process of writing a poem, read a poem in public, read poem to my wife, rearrange phrases in a poem, refine a poem, repetition, time disappeared, timing in a poem, write a poem, write it all down, writers, writing
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