POETICKS

There’s a Penguin anthology of twentieth-century out. It’s edited by Rita Dove.  Here’s a list of the poets represented in it, with thanks to John Jeffrey for having alphabetized it:

After seeing this list, I said what I knew I’d be saying before seeing it in a comment at a blog where it had been given an “A”: “Close to worthless. The good poets in it are already amply anthologized. Whole schools of the best American poets of the last forty years of American Poetry are entirely ignored. The one with Robert Lax in it (minimalism) for just one example. The editors of POETRY will find little in it, or not in it, to complain about-–which is proof of how bad it is.” 

Another ignored school, needless to say, is visual poetry, as represented by much of the work of John M. Bennett, such as this duo, “Cardboard,” that he posted just today (and he’s done scores as good):

 

 

 

I doubt anyone has more completely captured the essence of carboardedness–or the shuddery feel of decaying tenement rooms–than John has with these.  But with strangely joyful coloring in sharp contradiction of shuddering and tenements, but somehow absolutely right.  As with the poem by Gregory I seem to have abandoned, I find I need time before I’ll be able fully to appreciate these.

The Penguin anthology annoyed me, but after reflecting only briefly, it cheered me up: a comparison of its poets coming into their prime after 1950 to the poets in my crowd such as John M. Bennett could not more perfectly exemplify  academic art (including, I was amused to see, the least innovative portion of what’s being called “language poetry”) versus living art.  I may be deceived about the value of my work, but I know I’m not about that of my fellow visual poets.  We’re the Monets, Renoirs, van Goghs, Cezannes, they the French academics.

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