on the laureate

i don't have to worry about turning in my wreath since i'm in no danger of being nominated for any thing [and please do not take that as some sort of gripe, cuz it ain't, at all]. not only am i non-competitive by nature but i also loathe any sort of competitions, esp. with poetry and poets, since i think poetry is about breaking down hierarchies. so you will not see my name attached to book competitions, ever.

if you want to start a revolution in poetry start with demolishing book competitions and the mfa cottage industry. and no this is no bitter sniping, there are many poets i love and admire who earned their mfa's, but i'm pretty sure rimbaud didn't have an mfa and he published his book at his own expense. which sat the printer's for many years until it was discovered again. that's it, write your poems, you'll find your readers, and if you don't write your poems any way. no one can tell you whether or what you can write. just fucking do it.

and do fucking read, a lot. if you don't get a physical charge, a superhigh from reading/listening/viewing poetry than you are not a poet. not that i need to tell you this. you know it already, i'm sure.

i'm thinking about these things because of allen bramhall's posts here and via bill knott here re the poet laureate of the blogosphere. i hadn't paid attention to the competition but agree with allen and knott that the laureate of the poetry aether is rather silly. why bother. just post your work, publish it on your own via chapbook and send it along to your fellow poets. you'll always find a reader, like me.