Find Out What You Do Best, And

A Poet Trains Himself To Stand Out In A Storm And Be Struck By Lightning. If He Is Lucky Enough To Be Struck Six Times, He Becomes Immortal. Randall Jarrell Said It And He's Right.

Then You Develop A Kind Of Critical Sense About What You Write. You Can Tell When Something Is Good, But It Would Be Just As Good In Somebody Else's Work Too. You Want To Hold Out For Those Things Only You Can Say.

I Do Think The Author Ought To Be Able To Give A Good Reason For The Way Things Are In His Poem. Not A Bad Question To Ask Oneself.

Poetry Is A Hazardous Occupation, Very Hazardous. There May Be Bad Things In There Inside You That Maybe You Can't Handle.

William Packard Surely Must Be One Of The Great Editors Of Our Time.