Dovina6 Sep 2004

It's a matter of preference, more than of quality. Follow through is taking an idea along with a poem as the poem progresses and working the idea into something else or something better or even something wrong. Take Dan Garcia-Black’s recent posting, for example. It lacks the rhythm and prose of yours, but it follows through.

The meaning-prose trade-off is difficult. If we are too vague in image and metaphor, meaning is lost to readers who don’t get it; if too direct, we are accused of simplistic babble. This poem is close to a good balance, but too far to the prose side for my preference.

It’s a good poem.