I've been discussing this with Tim for centuries without getting
anywhere. I finally think, for what it's worth, that to write what he
writes and to pursue what he pursues, it is psychologically necessary
for Tim to believe in the existence of an anti-poetry called
"mainstream" in opposition to which he defines his own creative
efforts. He has a perfect right to that and you can't argue with it.
It is psychologically necessary for me to believe that there is no
such thing as "mainstream" poetry and that the divisions in
contemporary poetry are not singular but multiform and constantly
opening and closing, even that they can be healed. I see this as a
concern not to exclude, and a wish not to write as an oppositional or
negative act. This doesn't mean I have to write like the Poet
Laureate, who I think is a victim of her own success (and who normally
write as an act of opposition). I don't think there is much else needs
to be said. PR
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