How is the Neruda poem, which in translation has none of the
rhythmic play or rhymes of Page's poem, less of a "Hallmark Cards"
poem (itself a cliche of an insult) than Neruda's? The quotation from
Neruda serves as more than epigraph. Page's poem is one of a
series that adapts the *glosa* to her own (apparently beneath-
contempt) ends. She allows her mind to play with quotations she's
remembered and improvises from there, calling upon a lifetime of
writing poetry. Isn't this at least remotely allied to the everything that
I believe Mark Weiss cares about in poetry?
Mark Baker
Mark Weiss wrote:
> It's beneath contempt, and it goes against everything that you or I care
> about in poetry. But it may serve the occasion the way Hallmark Cards serve
> birthdays and weddings.
>
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