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1. The hazard of setting a standard
The once proud poets
Stripped of their unorthodoxy
have become ordinary
No unusual sexual orientations,
outlandish points of view, it is
“Get an education” in the everyday way
Forget tradition
POETRY is now an acronym
P is for publishing
O is for oversight
E is for elitism
T for tried and true, if not tiresome
R yes, don’t forget the resume, and
Y the text message Tantric for ambivalence,
and please
recall the role of the COET
commercial co-dependent
(repetition, that is good)
editor troglodytes
Those MBA with MFA
who keep the (dependency) silent
the ad disguised as CO
and,
Nobody mentions the D
The letter that looks like a reclining elephant
when the p is on one end
& q on the other
That is what they do,
watch the Ps and Qs and pretend
to ask questions but never mention
the elephant
the effete verse mystic misrepeats
to gain notice
and fame in the shortcut acronym way.
2. Advice that applies only to genius
When it comes to a
contest
Never send them your
best
Competition is just a
cudgel
Losers submit to. A
judge’s
Biases? Don’t sell out to
vanity
Resist the rules of such
insanity
Send them a message of
hope,
scorn, or contempt. Some
dope
may read it and
decide
It is better than their
pride
can tolerate. Has rhyme, the
kind
that pierces a simple
mind
& reveals a truth. You do not
get
a prize for exposing a
............................................................................................................disconnect!
3. Sad truths not taught in school
Editors are nothing but neo-literarians
Right wing gramarians afraid
afraid to come out of the neo-con(text) closet
afraid of alienating the idealistic
fools
(who believe
the Wood Guthrie song
Eisenhower understood better than Ginsberg)
Marching, mindlessly to Borders
to buy a latte, and reread
and pay and pay and pay and pay.
Alan Bender
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