This is more of an advice request/experiment. I've been writing poetry on and off over the last fifteen years, but rarely have I ever edited my work. I mean I might change a few words here and there to better convey the message I want to be delivered. Or, I might rearrange the lines to other locations within the poem because it flows better when read out loud. However, I've never actually sat down and objectively "destroyed" my poetry.
I'm curious more than anything to see what everyone else's strategy for editing poetry looks like. Doesn't necessarily need to be for publishing a book either. Simply put, just the editing process in general.
Usually I have to get through a first draft to even find out what I am trying to say. Then I write and rewrite the poem, adding new things as I go. Once I’ve said all I can think of, I’m left with a pretty encumbered poem with a lot of unnecessary junk. So I have to give my poem a haircut and clean everything up.
once that is done, I try to focus on metaphor and trying to use those in such a way that the metaphors contribute to the overall mood.
for example, I once e a poem that compared my relationship to cooking a fancy dinner. I made sure my metaphors were associated with food and cooking, specifically French wine and cuisine. It was an extra step to “thread the needle” between my metaphors in a way that served the poem. But before that could be done, I had to write a bunch of shit to Even have anything to work with