essential experience

Imagination fails the further it gets from experience.

contra beckett

Fail better? No, poet, fail more beautifully.

curse of verse

Formal poems that put perfection of form above poetic essence, fail as poems.

essence not attributes

A poem fails when it relies on attributes and not essence.

ultimate enemy of promise

When a clearly gifted poet dies young, of course we miss out on the even greater poetry to come; then again, the quality of the poetry won’t ever slide or fail to exceed the fine early work.

little done well

Most poems fail because they accomplish very well so little.

path of half-truths

There are hundreds of ways for a poem to fail, but the easiest course is to falsify.

extended description

The image failed because it took too many words to render.

one-way street

Some failed philosophers become poets, but failed poets seldom become philosophers.

fail better

When a poem fails and you don’t know why, it’s worth saving the pieces and starting over.