American poets witty, apt.

Charles Bernstein declares poetry bailout! There are just so many lolz herein:

As we know, lax composition practices since the advent of modernism led to irresponsible poets and irresponsible readers. Simply put, too many poets composed works they could not justify. We are seeing the impact on poetry, with a massive loss of confidence on the part of readers. What began as a subprime poetry problem on essentially unregulated poetry websites has spread to other, more stable, literary magazines and presses and contributed to excess poetry inventories that have pushed down the value of responsible poems.

Then he sat back down and tried to stop imagining a future where most Americans use Best American Poetry 2008 for kindling.


And, ha, you should probably donate some dollars or hours or syllables to the American Center For Sarah Palin Inspirational Limericks. This is a nascent genre that (please God) only has a month or so to live, and when the campaign is over you might not have your buttons or t-shirts or lipstick anymore, but you will always have the rhymes:

If Biden's emotions cause you to panic,
just re-apply your tactical lipstick.
Remember the mantra
your handlers taught'cha:
maverick, maverick, maverick.