A John Kinsella Manifesto

"Publishing poetry in a literary journal is a form of articulation, and a declaration of the desire to be heard. There are no half-measures in this, no pretending one is writing for an audience of one. Submit a poem for journal publication and you’re putting your communication forward: a communication with the journal itself (and all it engenders), with the editor/s, with the readers, and with your ‘self’ as public entity. The publication of a poem necessitates the merging (and sometimes clashing) of private and public spaces. I think the intention behind offering a poem for publication is relevant. A poem will do what a poem will do, and each reader or group of readers will bring their own ways of reading to it and necessarily disrupt intention. But the act of presenting a poem for publication is a deliberate act and carries a politics. Think carefully about what you’re submitting and why. For many poets it’s as simple as getting attention and a pay cheque. But it never stops there. Poems have lives of their own beyond copyright, beyond original contexts." 
Read the whole article (includes some relevant paragraphs on 'the competition poem')http://spunc.com.au/splog/post/a-john-kinsella-manifesto-what-i-do-and-don-t-look-for-in-a-poem-when-selecting-for-a-literary-journal/