[Kevin J MacLellan]

Michael,
I dunno either. But my guess is that it has everything to do with sincerity; the sincerity of his chosen diction is immediately apparent, mainly because it is so familiar. A poet would have to make the language choices equivalent ti that degree and kind of immediacy, authenticity.

I think, at bottom, this is what they mean by the old adage "write what you know."
All joking aside, you can't fake authenticity. Who would know how?
kjml