I like the meringue of the poetry slam. And I’m not afraid to declare that I enjoyed Koyczan’s performance/inclusion in the Olympic ceremony’s programme.All this to say, that it’s vital that we keep looking, listening and experiencing, as much to keep our ow minds and imaginations alive as to encourage those new voices to keep exploring.

I’m a poet, untrained by academia, and the linear career process is one that I’ve avoided almost completely. I do a few readings and I self-publish chapbooks of writing and art. I write poems because I need to. The original inspiration for the poems I write seems to always be from an area that’s before words, before thought - then I make it into a poem.

Poetry is a way to express what can’t be expressed by linear, logical thought & language, as experimental music can be, and other experimental or new art forms. (Which is why I believe it’s necessary.) Maybe it’s part of how human beings can express newness, and evolve a little more? I don’t want to try to explain poetry too pedantically because it’s magic to me, and quite mysterious… The essential mystery of the cosmos : poetry, all creativity, is a way to plug into that and interpret it? (Yes, I love Blake, big surprise).

Here’s what I think: the poetry I love is poetry I think is good and is also sublime in some way. There’s also lots of poetry I don’t like, for all kinds of reasons: I may think it’s bad or pretentious or boring or uninspired, etc. But I think all people need creative self-expression, and so whether I think the product of that self-expressioin is good or not shouldn’t really matter all that much - I still strongly support creative acts. It’s confusing. I feel the same about music and art. I’m snotty but democratic…yes, confused…

Thanks for the article.