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Why squabble? 7/8/2005 4:18:44 AM
I often am a day late (and a dollar short) when reading other's poems. This is not a problem most of the time, but when the poetry deals with current events my tardiness has its advantages. When authors squabble with one another over their political viewpoints, I just shake my head and smile.
Authors, in general, and more specifically poets, have a tendency toward strongly held opinions. Indeed, the potency of their opinions appears to be directly proportional to the impotency of their political /social strengths. To be a poet requires a level of idiosyncrasy and egocentrism which guarantees that the individual writer be convinced of the value of their prejudices.
Of course, I am as guilty as any. I choose to comment most frequently on questions of form, meter, and phrasing. as a general rule, I do not comment on the ideas behind the poems. My Olympian level of narcissism rejects the notion that anyone's level of political/social exactitude can possibly approached the grandeur of my own.
Thus, I ask; "why squabble?" when, unless you demonstrate the wisdom to worship my opinions, you cannot possibly be correct .
