End Poverty

I have to say I really don't understand all this animosity directed at Billy Collins. There's really no end to people who don't deserve their fame and their status, there's no end to people who set negative forces into the lives of many. It strikes me as juvenile to single out Billy Collins. I feel no more ownership of language as a poet than anyone else and I don't think it matters if Billy Collins happens to write cheap or even exploitative poetry and I don't think it matters that people read it. His success has more to do with the huge disparity of arts culture and pop culture in America, and that's the real problem. We are not going to win anybody over by calling them stupid, by telling them they don't know language or that they don't care about language. Language is not a privilege, it is universal. You're simply not allowed to tell someone that what they like is not worth liking. Not only is it pretentious, it's pointless. Wrestling will continue to be wildly popular in this country no matter how many times you tell the kids that its awful. What we need to do is usurp the likes of Collins but indirectly: with the sheer force and magnitude of our own talents and voices. We don't have to rock the boat when we can sink it directly. -AL