[Max Goodman]

Originally Posted by James Brancheau

Amateur poems vs professional poems, Max?

Here's the context:

Originally Posted by Max Goodman

Many competition poets (see Chris O'Carroll below his poem here) don't consider poems written to order--even very good ones, even ones they spend a lot of time writing, even ones that bring them far-and-away the majority of the money they earn through poetry--to be "real" poems.

Then, in response to

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Chuck Close [says] "Inspiration is for amateurs."

I reformulated.

Originally Posted by Max Goodman

many competition poets regard their amateur poems more highly than their professional ones.

Originally Posted by James Brancheau

Can you provide an example?

The poem I linked to is an example of a poem written to order, for which the poet was paid, and which he felt inclined to, if not apologize for when it was reprinted at Form in Formless Times, at least to explain how he came to write it.