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"Poetry to Form"
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I think that's true, it is important to know when to stop.
The advice holds good for most art forms. A friend of mine once wrote a short story that was really clever and witty. It was one of those pieces that seem to have everything just right first write. She wasn't satisfied, though. How could it be perfect when she hadn't altered even a comma? So she took it away and edited it to knock off its rough edges and killed it. The wit no longer worked, the characters lost their realism and her perky story became pallid.
I think form-writing is very good excercise. I feel that if you can say it in form, then you're free to write it any way it comes.
I've certainly enjoyed trying new forms I'd previously not tried --eye-popping interesting the things that the form itself creates. It's sort of like "auto pilot" for poetry, and yet it requires a vast amt of thinking... you've got to wrestle with your muse-- get those syllables down-- that image narrowed-- those words precise.
And it does tickle at the back of your brain until you find the solution. But then again, is there really any such thing as a "finished" poem? Polish it up too pretty, and it may be so sleek that it lacks character-- slides off the tongue so musically, that there's no pause for messages to penetrate.
--Charlie
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