revision's end

It was while revising the poem you realized it wasn’t worth the effort.

gauged by language

If a poet writes about nothing, his language better really be something.

oh goody

The covers of the leading magazines for writers have captions like: “More than 100 Opportunities for Grants, Awards & Publication” and “101 Contests with Upcoming Deadlines.”

no mean feat

Capable poets all struggling to be consequential.

gauging the language

As long as a reader can feel through the language that the poet knows something important is going on, the reader will go along. As soon as the reader senses that what is behind the language is trivial, all is lost.

preempt the prompt

Writing that comes from ‘prompts’ is not going to be important.

one poem, one life

To write a poem that would save a stranger’s life.