Charles Wright, "In Praise of Han Shan"

This is the last poem in the 2004 BAP, which I'm sick of by now, despite the several good poems it includes. Wright has always bored me to tears. It's not that he's bad, but that he doesn't write for any reason. As he himself says, this is "art for nothing's sake."

***

Best of the Best:

Alexander, Ashbery, Berrigan, Buchanan, Davis, Dinh, Elmslie, Fogel, Greenberg, Guest, Howe, Irby, Koch, Mathews, McCaffery, Mohammad, Moure, Myles, Rakosi, Shapiro, Silliman, Stefans, Sze, Tate, Toscano.

Worst of the Worst:

Collins, Hollander, Phillips, Pinsky, Seidel, Stern, Wagoner.