Simplicity in Poetry

[cvanshelton]

I don't mean consumers in the monetary sense. The audience is people who will read your writing, not necessarily those who pay for it.

Alright, this is how I would break it down logically:

You want to write a poem
You want your poem to be read
You want the poem to be good
Good poems connect with the reader
Good poems have been edited
Not all good poems connect with all readers
You choose a set of readers for the poem
Good poems must have certain elements
Different types of poems have some different elements that make them good
Not all sets of readers respond to the same elements
You write a poem with elements that your readers respond to
You edit your poem
Editing your poem necessitates you reading the poem as a reader
There are many types of readers
you can't write to everyone
Identifying your readers narrows the focus of the edit
You edit your poem
It has good elements that your readers respond to
Your poem touches the reader
Your poem is good.

And that's it for me. I'll bow out now. It seems we are just on the treadmill of a difference of ideas. I appreciate that you are so committed to your process, and I understand your perspective and see its merit. I regret putting my thoughts up as "rules". I see that has rubbed a few people the wrong way. Please accept my apology. I agree that in the end, the poem itself is the summum bonum. I simply find it useful to be mindful of the readers experience when I write. In response to the OP, complexity and simplicity, for my writing, is usually determined by who I am writing to or for. Neither one is inherently "good" or "bad". It comes down to pragmatism - what is most useful over the longest time given the context. Cheers!