26 April 2004. One of my tired days, hence, just this:

If you had to specify the one ingredient of an effective poem most important to its success, what would it be? Or, to put it another way, if the Muse of Poetry came to you and told you she would make certain that all your poems had one specific ingredient, what ingredient would you choose?

For me, it would be their each being unlike any other poem in the world in at least one significant respect. Yeah, made new.

I believe some poets would ask that their poems not be unlike all other poems in any significant respect. But they wouldn't let it be known.

The New Yorker poetry editor apparently would rate authenticity the most important ingredient of a successful poem, going (unfairly, I admit) by what she said in praise of one of the poets she published who went on to win some prize.

Dana Gioia might vote for memorability, although that would bring up the question of what makes a poem memorable, which would have to be the specific ingredient the poem depends most on for its effectiveness.

Here are the specifics I've thought of: