It is easy for familiar, well-worn words to find their way onto the page. If your poetry contains a lot of phrases such as “strong as an ox,” “clear as crystal,” or “she broke his heart,” you might want to rethink what specific experience within the poem these words want to convey.
In our example, we have been using a cliché: “she watches the sun set.” What is useful about a cliché is that it is readily understood by a great number of people. The concept of the sun “setting” gets the general idea across very quickly. Cliché can be used in poetry if the writer wants to use it for satirical purposes or to subvert its meaning; but it is not specific or descriptive, and that can sap the energy from an otherwise fine poem.
Examine your poems thoroughly and mark any lines or phrases that strike you as too familiar, too general, or something you’ve heard a thousand times in your life. Is there a reason to keep a cliché in? What purpose do you have for using it? How does it add to the poem’s intent? If you don’t have a particular reason for using a cliché, ask yourself what idea specific to the experience of the poem you want to express.
How do we rework a cliché? “She watches the sun set” may seem perfect at first; after all, we all know what it means. However, it tells us nothing about the person or the sensation of her particular experience. What exactly is she doing? That is up to the poet. The best way I know to rework a cliché leads us to the next section: