Doug, I do agree with the political points raised in the bulk of your
posting. But I am worried by your opening and closing paragraphs. A propos
of talking about poetry just now, you say:
> But this is difficult to do when a war that has caused so much dissension
concerning its value is ongoing.
and then
> ...it would be good to talk about poetry alone, but perhaps it's not
possible at this time.
This seems to me a far more extreme stance than the famous _Poetry makes
nothing happen.
I read that first statement of yours as saying that this war, more than any
others, has actually devalued poetry. Why this particular one? No other war
that I can think of has had anything like that effect. Even if we don't want
to back to WWI and Owen, Denise Levertov has been mentioned very recently on
this list for her passionate anti-Vietnam war poetry, which not only spoke
to opinion at the time but lives on as a vivid and still-vital message.
If poets and lovers of poetry themselves start saying that it isn't possible
to talk about poetry in a time of war, then we may as well burn all the
books now.
I do realise that your point hinges on the words _poetry alone_ . But I
believe we all need its solace and courage from time to time.
Joanna
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