"If you have an idea for a poem, an exact grid of intent, you are on the wrong path"
And the less is always the same, and young poets recognize this to be one of the most important lessons they can learn: if you have an idea for a poem, an exact grid of intent, you are on the wrong path, a dead-end alley, at the top of a cliff you haven't even climbed. This is a lesson that can only be learned by trial and error.
From Mary Ruefle - Madness, Rack and Honey