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Embrace Ambiguity
Here’s a tricky issue: the task is to grasp, to connect, to understand. But such a task is to some degree impossible, and most people want clarity. At the end of class, at the end of the day, we want revelation, a glimpse of the skyline through the lifting fog. Aesthetically, this is understandable. Some magic, some satisfaction, some “Ahhh!” is one of the rewards of any reading, and particularly the reading of poetry. But a poem that reveals itself completely in one or two readings will, over time, seem less of a poem than one that constantly reveals subtle recesses and previously unrecognized meanings.
Here’s a useful analogy. A life partner, a husband, a wife—these are people with whom we hope to constantly renew our love. Despite the routine, the drone of familiarity, the daily preparation of meals and doing of dishes, the conversations we’ve had before, we hope to find a sense of discovery, of surprise. The same is true of poems. The most magical and wonderful poems are ever renewing themselves, which is to say they remain ever mysterious.
Too often we resist ambiguity. Perhaps our lives are changing so fast that we long for stability somewhere, and because most of the reading we do is for instruction or information, we prefer it without shades of gray. We want it to be predictable and easy to digest. And so difficult poetry is the ultimate torment.
Some literary critics would link this as well to the power of seeing, to the relationship between subject and object. We wish the poem to be object so we can possess it through our “seeing” its internal workings. When it won’t allow us to “objectify” it, we feel powerless.
Torment, powerlessness—these are the desired ends? Well, no. The issue is our reaction, how we shape our thoughts through words. We have to give up our material attitude, which makes us want to possess the poem. Maybe we’ve bought the book but we don’t own the poem. We have to cultivate a new mindset, a new practice of enjoying the inconclusive.
Embracing ambiguity is a much harder task for some than for others. Nothing scares some people like the idea (even the idea) of improvisation as a writing or analytical tool. Some actors hate being without a script; the same is true of some musicians. Ask even some excellent players to improvise and they start to sweat. Of course, actors and musicians will say that there is mystery in what they do with a script or a score, and it would be pointless to disagree. The point, after all, is that text is mysterious. Playing the same character night after night, an actor discovers something in the lines, some empathy for the character, that he or she had never felt before. Playing or listening to a song for the hundredth time—if it is a great song—will yield new interpretation and discovery. So it is with great poetry.
Article From Poetry.org
the poet's billow 
Too much exposition too soon shortens the journey of discovery; in fact, it removes the journey. So, the reader isn’t engaged on anything more than a passive level – simply spoon fed. Just a few thoughts. Thanks for posting
Very true Andy, it reminds me of the fiction motto “start as far into the story as possible” and for a poem that could be doubly true.
are there specific techniques that are often used for this effect?
There are techniques to having that “ahh” moment at the end of a poem, an epiphany, and a poem that “will yield new interpretation and discovery.” It all starts with the writing process, one quote by Robert Frost we like here at the Poets Billow is “no surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” What we take from this is that you should write until you come up with something new, until you surprise yourself with what you have written because you had no intention of writing those words, or on a particular topic in the first place which brings up another quote: “Don’t think, just write.” Keep a look out, that question has inspired a great topic to expand on. We may post more thoughts on this and maybe some writing exercises.
thank you, I look forward to gaining some new tools for my poetry toolbox. Right now I am really limited to metaphor, which is powerful, but like a cowboy painting, my horse is just a horse no matter how well I paint it.