The title pretty much sums it up. Further, What makes a poem a poem? What is the role of the Artist, the Arts, in a world as violent, mad, fraudulent and topsy-turvy as ours today?

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1.

Nobody asked me.

2.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti should get a lifetime appointment (and then some!).

3.

I don't want to hobnob with the Secretaries of State and Defense and pretend I like the Kiplingesque poems they like. I don't want to talk about the objective correlative with the President and Vice President, nor explain oxymorons to smart-bombing generals.

4.

I'd have to go on PBS and read Christmas poems!

5.

I couldn't say "fart" in public!

6.

My mama didn't raise no fool!

7.

It would take the edge off. An artist ain't crap without an edge.

8.

The enemy of the best is the second best. This would be second best. Vox populi, vox Dei is best.

9.

Who ever heard of Robert Southey?

10.

Kenneth Patchen wrote: "It is the duty of the artist to consort forever with the runaway."

Authors Bio:
Gary Corseri has published & posted his work at hundreds of venues worldwide, including Op Ed News, The New York Times, CounterPunch, CommonDreams, DissidentVoice, L.A. (and Hollywood--) Progressive. He has been a professor in the US & Japan, has published 2 collections of poetry, 2 novels, and edited a literary anthology. He has performed his work at the Carter Presidential Library and Museum, and his dramas have been produced on Atlanta-PBS and elsewhere.