Balancing the "Huh?" and "Oh!" of Poetry

As my poetry manuscript gets shorter and slimmer, that strange goal, I'm not only careful that I don't go overboard and end up where I began --with a blank page -- but I weigh words. And punctuations. As I trim, I watch to make sure that not too much meaning disappears, but leave just enough to hint or provoke. I'm trying to be as careful as a jeweler chipping a precious stone, knowing the right angle can let in more light, but a wrong stroke will just make it a smaller rock. Or dust. My aim...