Cut, Cut, Expand, Expand

Anne Sexton said that the way she wrote a poem was to "cut, cut, expand, expand" and I completely understand this. I tend to over-write, dumping out whatever comes into my head as I enter the poemtrance. Then I must edit to see what possible shape is buried under all that raw material. Next, I have to decipher and usually narrow down what I want the poem to say: one of the biggest problems poets have is trying to say too much in one small lyric poem (that's why the ancients used the epic form, something we moderns have barely enough patience for). Knowing what it is I'm trying, or wanting to say, is the most difficult part of the poetry-writing process for me. Each word stands in front of a door full of historic, cultural, regional meanings; there are so many choices, yet only the one right choice for any particular poem.