mistaken evaluation

It’s impossible for most poets to recognize that they’ve written something of little worth.

be a picker

Poet, be a picker. Find the worth in what others throw away

store of value

Poetry is a lot like Bitcoin: It’s worth a lot to those who value it, and not much to anyone else.

valued but unread

What most book collectors overlook is that the material object of the book would be absolutely worthless without the text within. Yet once the book becomes collectible, the object itself is barely if ever read for fear of harming the artifact.

cannot wear out

No matter how many times you read or hear it, you can’t wear out a good poem.

need to be

It’s a bad poem, but if you needed to write it, maybe it has worth.

about poems

It’s about the poems not where they were published.

revision's end

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

wayside words

Wayside words: Not all words are worth perpetuating.

things and whatnot

Junk drawer poem: Lots in there, but nothing useful or worth much.

wrong, wrong again

Remember, both the writer and the publisher could be wrong about the work’s worth.

poem that lives

A poem lives by its memorable lines and the reader’s feel for the worth of its whole.

worth glory

All art is religious in a sense that no artist would work unless he believed that there was something in life worth glorifying. This is what art is about.

—Henry Moore, Henry Moore: Writings and Conversations (U. of California, 2002), Alan Wilkinson, editor.

of no matter

The poetry was not up to a level where critical attention would be worthwhile.

[Thinking of Instagram and Twitter poets.]

not this, not that...

If a poet flips through his/her book at a reading, that’s probably a bad sign. Shouldn’t almost any poem one turns to in the book be worth reading aloud?

worth the effort

The urge toward revision will tell you whether it’s a poem worth worrying over.

is worth all

The poem doesn’t try to sell itself. Its improbable existence in this world gives it worth.

happy painstaking

When I read the poem I thought what good fortune to have been the medieval scribe appointed to copy out this poem in a fine script.

art's remuneration

One of those artists who thought the world owed him a living without proof of his worth.

bookcase or box

This is not a book for my bookcase, but for the box to be donated to a local booksale.