-----Original Message-----
From: pain <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 09 May 1999 04:06
Subject: re: Women on the list
>Mainstream Poets Unveiled
>
>The photo on the back is at least ten years old,
>or else he or she has had a serious face lift
>or else the photo is in soft, soft focus,
>the same is true of his or her poetry,
>on the back we are nearly always told
>their latest work is at the cutting edge
>or the poet is at the peak of his or her powers
>but it never bears or wants scrutiny
>otherwise we might see how sleight he or she is
>when it comes to writing poetry,
>They have nearly always suffered from this
>or that, been abused, been mistreated, been hurt,
>driven to the point of standing on the window ledge,
>but in sessions with their analysts we find this
>is not entirely the case, they are suffering
>from a terminal bout of workshop fatigue,
>or a weak wrist from signings, or professorial
>influenza (hangovers) that ends in a long sabbatical,
>we are informed too, they are white but long
>ago were black, or native american, or failing
>that, hispanic, italian, or whatever is the political
>lly correct flavour of the month, and they bring
>long dead relatives, great great grandmothers
>back from the dead, as living proof that they are
>who they are, but the truth is that the closest
>they have got to being black is watching a Maya
>Angelou video or talking to their secretaries,
>they write of sex and love, but sadly again
>it is often a case of porking their students
>or of paying for it, numerous forms of adulteries.
>because we are told they live on a farm
>in New England, in an idyllic setting, with
>their wife or husband, have a few chickens,
>a goat, sheepdogs and a number of children,
>and we know this because their kitchens
>with Victorian ranges have appeared in Country
>and Life, this brings us to the act of creation,
>how and when do they find the time to write,
>well some say they do it like Thomas Wolfe
>on top of a fridge, others do it on the john,
>some in a bus, others, the vast majority,
>do it in mid-flight, in executive class,
>but none, absolutely none will admit
>that they do it sat behind a common garden
>desk!
I love this poem, it's really tickled me...
Helen (eeeek, a woman!)
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