Colin Ward's "[c]rap lyrics" is a racist pseudo witticism that severely diminishes his credibility as a commentator on any black poet's work.
At least, though, Ward is discussing the issue of whether "The Hill We Climb" is a good or bad poem. That's a discussion worth having. The question is one on which experienced poets and readers can differ intelligently. But I see no point in proclaiming that the piece isn't a poem at all, that it has to be saved to some other file in our minds. Defining poetry is usually a thankless endeavor, and it seems to me there would be a lethal dose of soulless mumbo jumbo in any definition carefully crafted to distinguish "poetry" from "oration" while excluding Gorman's work from the former category.
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