There are many sharply ironic, political poems in Official Versions. How do you respond to the criticism that political poetry is “of the moment” and not “for the ages;” that it is more often than not occasional in nature, therefore a lesser brand of poetry?
What is more timeless than vainglorious leaders, governmental deceit, and the misrepresentation of the truth for political ends? Injustice and oppression likewise are ever present. They are eternal aspects of the human condition. What is different at different times is only the degree to which one or the other is at the forefront of our consciousness on a daily basis. Poets who are inclined to write poems on contemporary themes and who take as a starting point current events often feel the need to have something to push against. I certainly do. In times such as the present moment, when the men who run our country are less than subtle about their agenda, having gone to school at the Ronald Reagan academy of media manipulation where they learned to call catsup a vegetable and a weapon of mass destruction a “Peacekeeper,” the subjects that fuel the writing of political poems are staring everyone who wishes to see them right in the face.
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- There are many sharply ironic, political poems in Official Versions. How do you respond to the criticism that political poetry is "of the moment" and not "for the ages;" that it is more often than not occasional in nature, therefore a lesser brand of poetry?
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