Wasn't it Molière's Misanthrope who got in trouble by criticizing his friend's poem? If poetry is a defense against mediocrity, what use is mediocre poetry? Yet we cannot legislate against it. When one of my circle of acquaintances in Spain publishes a mediocre book, what am I supposed to say?

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I made my name in Spain by attacking the lame, neo-Audenesque poetry of "experience." Luis García Montero shooting me dirty looks in Almería, where we had parallel poetry courses a few summers back. You would think Spanish poets could find someone more exciting to emulate than Auden. How about Ted Berrigan or Lorine Niedecker? This trend has dominated in Spain for twenty years. Now transformed into an imitation American "dirty realism" modelled after Carver. ¡Coño!



I am motivated by fear and anger in equal strengths.