“The poet in our current time is complacent, maintaining an air of respectability or is the creator of outrageous manifestos — in either case is benign. In times past poets were leaders and creators of reality; they were respected and entrusted with the keeping of cultural inheritance. Somehow this has changed, and poets now are non-entities for the most part; sure, they are politely applauded by small audiences, they sell a few volumes; they put their private lives on display to make others feel human. But this is all ‘culture’, a word which now seems to mean, not the whole of society, but entertainment for the few — dividends received for living in a ‘civilized’ society. Furthermore, poets generally believe that they are effective, believe they make an impact on society; and who is responsible for this misconception is a great mystery — some influence outside the poetic community, or worse yet, the poets themselves — an important question that will not be answered here. This, for us, is the important fact: the poet has somehow been marginalized, and there is no sense that our society would die without the presence of poetry or poets. Perhaps this is the gravest sign of cultural coma.”<\/p>\n
– Brad N. Haas <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The poet in our current time is complacent, maintaining an air of respectability or is the creator of outrageous manifestos — in either case is benign. In times past poets were leaders and creators of reality; they were respected and … Continue reading