I came across this
link on Facebook, a few words from the editors at the Indiana Review about
what flaws make them reject a poem. All
good advice, it seems to me, and each bullet point correlates EXACTLY with problems in fiction, so also good advice for ALL of us:
2. Over-associating. I’m not a minimalist by any means, but I do believe in earning your fireworks. Your winter breath is not a constellation of fireflies axeing their way through the winter like little lumberjacks. There’s not a hot air balloon filled with jackrabbits in your chest every time she looks at you like a prison guard bleeding sugar. I don’t care that it’s Tuesday. A poem ought to be, I think, more than just a collection of assorted images. What is your poem doing? What does it add up to? How is it governed?...