[Andrew Szilvasy]

Originally Posted by Jim Moonan

If we equate obscurity with vagueness then it is to be avoided at all times. If we equate it with things like subtlety or complexity, then it becomes an attribute of writing that, when executed skillfully, can draw the reader closer and closer until what's obscured is revealed.

I think this is what I'm really getting at, said well. I don't like the word obscurity. Perhaps polysemous is better. Subtly, complexity, depth. I don't want a poem to hide meaning, I want it to open into deeper ones upon closer examination, like a fractal.

As for audience: each writer creates her own audience by her writing. The poetry world is too fragmented for there to be such a thing as a casual reader who can be catered to in the sense that there once was.