Is The Poem Worth Reading?
Comparing reviews with criticism
i find myself often wrestling with’em
because some of them seem to play the part
of comparing the poet to his art.
They attempt to write a biography
with elaborate vocabulary
instead of describing the poem at hand
in words which readers can understand.
The reader may love or hate the poet
but the poem–he will never know it.
To explicate the story or poem
seems to be a task which is below’em.
Tell us if the poem is good or bad,
not how many wives the poet has had.

Walt Abbott–9-2-08