Am I Too Judgmental?
I find Reginald Shepherd’s ideas interesting.
However, when he says his poetry grows out of
his experience as both a black man and gay
i feel strangely disassociated.
Neither of these facts arouse any animosity
or intolerance but the feeling of camaraderie
is diminished by knowing them. I have to admit
this with some regret. That makes me wonder
if it is wise to learn more about the quotidian
lives of authors than necessary.
If his or her writing is exciting, i would
rather not know the writer was, or is, suicidal.
The experiences of the body come from a
mortal source. That body is going to die but
the ideas and imagination become an integral
part of the universe of which i am also a part.
Thus, we all become immortal companions
with the gods. Anything which imperils this
feeling of camaraderie is like a virus which
threatens the warm glow of happiness we
otherwise experience.

Walt Abbott–9-3-08