That poem in Spanish was the first in which I used assonant rhyme. The last line is a quote from Valente about poets in politics. Where you have no use value, don't have aspirations. In other words, don't trade in your poetic prestige for political power. Only in Europe or Latin America is this possible anyway. Gilberto Gil is minister of culture in Brazil which is pretty cool.

Akiko printed out a poem from the Nation for me last night and Julia brought it downstairs to me when she should have been asleep. I agree with the part in which the poet (Katha Pollitt) says that the subject of most anti-war poems is "the poet's superior / moral sensitivies." It's too bad that she can't write her way out of a paper sack. Look at the string of predictable adjectives in the line "this cold gray glittering morning." And doesn't the poem end up being about her own moral sensitivies anyway? The funniest thing to come out of all of this is the statement in the Wall Street Journal "We've never heard of Adrienne Rich." Whatever you think of Adrienne Rich if you haven't actually heard of her you aren't really entitled to an opinion. She's a friggin' Yale younger poet.