An experiment in poetic-psychoanalytic therapy: what is good for the poem is good for the poet

In this paper I consider the question of what is good for the poem. First I put forward a case for addressing a poem as a living thing, and what follows is a Lacanian psychoanalysis of a poem's unconscious. I conclude with a brief application for educators and recommend ways they might prevent an avoidance of poetry by deconstructing normalcy myths surrounding what makes a good poem.