Good one.
I usually sit with it for a month. Sometimes I edit it a bit more. Sometimes I just try to see deeper.
You can publish a poem. Some poets save them for contests. If you publish, be a little picky. You have to match the poem to the journal. It's a marketing world. You can save them and self-publish a book. So many options!
When I haven't read a poem in a while (like months), I am sometimes amazed I wrote it; I sometimes see it needs more weeding, etc.
Rene, I put out a chapbook in 2007, and that was my first. It was a big deal to me at the time. It had my blood and guts in it. Yep, you can read and hold your blood and guts. It's something to share that with other human beings.
Think about your ultimate goal. It may change in a few months. I write to help others see another way, sometimes a little deeper. I write to share with others. I think when I started, I wrote so my adult children would have a better idea of who their mother is.
Keep all poems in a File. Todd is smarter about this than I am. I call my file: My Poetry File. It's under Documents. There probably a better way.
Back up your poems. Maybe a flash drive. Talk to Todd about what is smart. (I still feel dumb in this high tech world.
) Just surviving with a friend helping from time to time.
You will figure it out.
Read, critique, be critiqued, check out small presses. Mags and journals want good material. Libraries have Writers Market. It's HUGE and overwhelms me but has Many options.
I read other poets, then see where they published what poems. Seems easier to me.
Just read and feel your way around. Talk with poets you know. (I did not know a soul until I went to poetry meetings in Mountain Home, then Lucidity in Eureka Springs, then Poets Roundtable of Arkansas. Finally I went to National Conference in OK. Wow! My eyes were opened. So many options, so many poets.
I fell in love with Jane Kenyon's poetry. Very much from a female's point of view. Then Ted Kooser's poetry taught me much about how to get rid of extra words. Kenyon was dead. It didn't matter. Her poetry was very much alive. Kooser lived in another state. It didn't matter. I could buy his work and that's how he became my teacher.
Both are contemporary poets.
When you find a poet to model after, one you respect and admire, then read his or her work. I read Gerald Stern for a year: the power of repetition. Many men like Billy Collins' poetry. Me too. He is down to earth and humble about it. So many good poets to choose from.
Oh, I read 3 or 4 anthologies (over the period of a couple of years) and found the type of poetry I loved. Might start with G
ood Poetry by Keiller or Billy Collins book: 180 Days or something like that. Both offer variety.
This is too much to take in, but you get the idea.
Thanks for asking. It has been a fine journey for me.
Pat