something i posted somewhere else -- on meaning

[QDeathstar]

Just bumping this, with a reminder: it doesn't matter if you don't get the same thing out of a poem as the next reader, or as the poet him/herself. It's not a competition.

Many poems are written with an intention of a specific meaning.... meaning does matter. Is it really a good thing that you can completely miss the poets point and make up your own meaning? Only in rare instances. You clarified what you wrote here later on, but, this is too broad a brush and clearly meaning matters. Even and especially for critique.

Not to say the poet should justify his choices outside of the poem itself.