How You Know a Poem is Finished

No one knows what it is you’re seeking.

You bargain and begin. Soon enough, fail.

So many more beginnings than you bargained

for. If you find a draft you love a little, hate a lot,

sleep. Wake and revise to the point of ruin. Keep

dreaming and beginning. Write as badly as you

must. When you find a draft you like a little, hate

less, read every word out loud. Revise. Record

your voice speaking line after line. Again. When

what you’ve said sounds almost true or beautiful

hit stop. Walk or run where a tree like a willow is

rooted, especially near a body of water in motion.

Listen. Listen to the poem someone recorded. 

Keep walking, running, listening. Return. Sleep,

dream, wake, revise, record, repeat. Repeat each

step until the poem someone found sounds like a

tree bending over the river, giving thanks.

Copyright Kelly DuMar, published in All These Cures, 2015

Freeze, thaw, freeze thaw. It's cold once again, and so we are back on our preferred trail across the brook. Tonight is my weekly poetry group so, as I walk in the woods I am also listening to a recording I made of my poem in progress, for fine tuning. This is a practice I have found works very well for hearing what's missing and appreciating the many layers and levels of what is already there. 

All text and photos copyright Kelly DuMar 2018