Category Archives: Poets Corner

Once upon a time, I lived in a town roughly the size of Our Town (aka, Jacksonville). Northampton, Massachusetts, home to Smith College, is also home to the highest percentage of feminists per household of any community either side of the Mississippi. For those doubting my claim, I offer none other than, that venerable source of credible information, The National Enquirer. While I was dwelling in “NoHo,” said rag issued a warning that said community was a “town where men aren’t wanted.” And, while there were days I believed this seemingly wild assertion, on the whole, I was made to feel as welcome as the next outsider, regardless of gender.

One evening, while out on the town in question, I was playing — under the influence of too much Valpolicella — the provocateur. I said, “Political poetry is an oxymoron. Social activism is as necessary as any other evil that rights the wrongs committed by the right, but poetry must, rightfully, remain above this untoward fray.” Or words to that effect. Never content to quit while ahead, I went on to sing the praises of Pablo Neruda. Well, needless to say, my heedless remarks were taken to task by some perceptive member of our party. She said, “How can you claim — in one breath — poetry’s superiority to politics, and — in the next — loudly laud Neruda’s body of work, which included, among other stridently political manifestos, A Call for the Destruction of Nixon?” Or words to that effect.
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