Word usage in poetry

[milo]

This is right up my alley today. I have been reading lengthy workshop threads trying to relearn how to critique. I spent this morning in an old thread The Gift of the Open Hand, a meager little poem that said a bit, nothing earth shattering. The crit was so generous and inspiring, examination of so many word choices, the same word essential to one reader and poem stopping to another. And everyone was up for a discussion of why. So interesting!

So, should I be able to defend each word? To myself I lean towards yes. But are the sonics or feel of an "unnecessary" word enough to justify it? For me a sure, why not? Even an inside joke will sometimes land in some unpredictable way for a reader. A poem is more than a collection of words.

well, these easy answer is always :

1. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
   

"It was to contribute to my presentation"

But I assume the original post is something people actually discussed. Or did you make me thimk and type for not even an imaginary reason?

this is the original post, we are the people discussing it