[Mark McDonnell]

Hi Walter,

I think I pretty much agree with you. Of course, it sounds better and more palatable coming from you (gay and brownish) than it would from me (white and straightish). And I can't think of a better way to put it than from the voice of Eliot's cat haha.

Like Andrew I'm an 'ardent lefty', or instinctively feel I am, though having looked into the Anders Carlson Lee controversy I do begin to wonder what that means. I didn't find the debate around his and the magazine's forced apologies interesting and challenging, I just found it pretty unequivocally disturbing that they felt it necessary to make them. I wonder (Andrew) why you felt it necessary to add the editorial 'not great' to your link, as if this softens or justifies the ridiculous treatment the poem/poet received.

Generally, however well-intentioned, I tend to look on poetry (or anything for that matter) which claims/seeks to speak for a 'group identity' with some skepticism. I'd far rather be invited into a unique and private universe.

Edit: having said this, I should also say that I'm not familiar with the three poets mentioned in Walter's opening paragraph. I did watch the youtube clip Andrew linked to of the Danez Smith poem ('Dinosaurs in the Hood') which, like a lot of spoken word, seemed more akin to good political stand-up, which seems a better medium to me for cathartic collective identity.