[mignon ledgard]

Matt,

I hope you do not change the poem. The risk of downgrading it is ominous. The anxiety of which you speak is well reflected, and the language is elevated in good taste: it is art.

If obscurity is what allows the different readings and does not boil the poem down to the anxiety with which many of us are acquainted, then, I suppose I like obscure poems. As long as interpretation(s) is are possible, the writing elevates the content. It is a worthy piece of writing - I would hate to see its original qualities diluted.

Besides, the anxiety you speak of is very much felt in the poem, no matter the interpretation.

In any case, please, leave the original up for comparison and continued discussion.

As for writing poems before doing research, I do the same and would not change it. I love surprises and, long ago, I learned that, no matter what I write, I will have lots to learn from researching 'after the fact.' It's not as much fun to write from recall.

It is a privilege for readers to have living authors who are open to discussion of their poems. But it is not a poem's duty to be explanatory.

Ay, ay, ay!
No scalpel to this poem, no no..

~mignon