Why do get trapped into defending a poet I don't even like? Well, I was thinking a little more about Bruce Andrews, and realized his characteristic mode is not all that far removed from a lot of forms of hip hop lyrics and slam poetry that are certainly more accessible to today's 18-year olds than Shelley is:


"Nasty simulacra -- you jerk, you forgot your pistol
Bunny potlatch -- Slam Slam Happens
Integrabby glisses up
You're the cowboys, we're the cattle
And Scrooge McDuck
The non-oligarchical wisecracker irritainment
Listen honey, we call it passive regressive
Dirt at crime scene -- cineplex moonshine foxtrot
White Collar Hairnet -- Burn-outs for Christ
Culture dead codehead down, pre-rave accessorizing the wick
Wallet had icing
Cops money satan"

In fact, I might do a "Bruce Andrews or Hip Hop Lyric Quiz" very soon.