It's All a Draft Until You're Dead

I think there must be a T-shirt or mug somewhere with that saying on it, and I've heard many stories about poets eternally editing their work (even once it's in print). But I have been actually pleased, in the last week or so, to read older poems and find several ways to make them tighter or more exciting or interesting. Pleased, but also a little abashed and embarrassed about having sent them in their previous, poorer, state to journals last year. 

I think my ear is pretty good, but lately, I've felt that my eye has gotten keener. I am grateful for my two critique groups, which are both comprised of really stellar poets and editors who provide insightful feedback. Sometimes you don't know what's not working until someone tells you, and even though only you can fix it, without that feedback, you'll not get very far past your blind spots.