Poems are meant to be re-read multiple times, much like songs aren’t meant to be listened to once and then moved on from forever. Think of the poems, and content here more generally as “meditations.”
Partly, they’re a puzzle you solve from clues that stick out, unravelling the thread a bit on each read. Typically, at least some parts you’re not supposed to get right away, you think on it awhile, then have a “whoa that’s cool!” moment later. Depending on the difficulty level, sometimes that’s 10% and sometimes 90%.
“Why would I want to work at it that much when clickbait can give me a similar dopamine hit?”
This process causes the poems to stick with you as you deal with life, resonating with related experiences. “If” by Rudyard Kipling is my favorite poem, and has been a close companion in experiences that shaped huge parts of my existence. Among other things, it helped me find meaning in otherwise “meaningless” situations, to grow stronger instead of more bitter.
I’m still growing as a person and a poet who achieves these goals. I tend to be too obscure, and once I solve that problem my work will probably be too simplistic to bother with. Such is the life of an aspiring (read: starving) artist. Your feedback, whatever it is, is invaluable as I work through that process.