how do you dissect or study a poem

[rowens]

I'm new to workshops. I've thought and wrote a lot about this subject in notebooks, for my personal use. But to specify workshop atmospheres, I think you should assume the poem is finished and every element of it is important, and then give your interpretation. If the poet disagrees, either the poet has to fix what doesn't work well: as an example, my poem "Nervous Cough" led people to a religious conclusion that was stronger than I intended, to the point where I found it necessary to change it. Or the poet can tell you enough information to see if you can accept the poem or not. One thing is allusions, and the metaphors and other aspects that rely on allusions. If I wrote a poem about a character or situation from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and you haven't read that entire book series (which is itself composed of endless allusions to other books) then you won't get it; but if you're interested enough, it might incite a passion for these other books, and ideas. So a poem can challenge you, and send you on an adventure through literature, philosophy, psychology, religion, etc., and cultural or personal worldviews and experiences. I personally enjoy this process, and love poems that challenge and push me onto new warm paths, that make my life itself feel more solid and capable of handling what might otherwise be situations too strange and impossible for me to live through. That said, I don't enjoy art for art's sake. I like poems that both communicate through a personal level, and open possibilities for spiritual breakthroughs on small or great levels. And for me, Spirit is a life energy produced from the friction between feeling I have a soul while knowing I'm just a self conscious object in a finite world of constant change and mutations. That's what I think.