From 1972 to 1995 my only contact with poets was a handful of letters from my mentors, Warren and Wilbur. Living in New York, Art doesn't know the meaning of isolation. I was utterly oblivious to anything going on in the poetry scene, hadn't even heard of New Formalism. There was an advantage to this isolation. I read only great poetry and developed my own idiosyncratic style. And I had one great reader--Alan. But I believe I'd have developed much faster if I had had the friends and the publishing venues I now have--and the Sphere. There is a palpable excitement in the formal poetry scene, and I'm writing better and more voluminously for having befriended (and competed with) the leaders of our movement. What a resource Able Muse would have been to me twenty years ago. And what a resource it is for all of you toiling as I did in total obscurity. Three cheers for Alex.
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