So during one of those long conversations with my roommate Jack last month he asked me if I ever just throw a poem out. The short answer is: Yep!

The long answer is, well, not without trying to resuscitate it first. Code Blue! Usually there is a line or a phrase or an image that is solidly good and if I take that out and throw everything else away and take that little cutting and see if I can grow it into something larger. And sometimes I just leave the inadequate ones in a folder or drawer and wait a while and see later whether or not I still think they are inadequate or unsalvageable. It is easier now than it was many years ago, but that is true of many things in writing and life.