Dirk, It wasn't really your post that inspired that rant. I just felt jumped on when I was simply trying to add to the discussion. I thought I had some points worthy of discussion, but perhaps I didn't. Probably the main thing is that I had no street-cred when I came out with some sweeping comments, which honestly I knew would provoke strong responses. At any rate, I actually like much of Ezra Pound's poetry, mythic references and all. I'll take your advice and read some poems in the bathroom or something. I don't want to frighten my wife. Brennen p.m.s. Ashbery isn't as bad as you think. He's gotten a lot of people interested in the possibilities of contemporary poetry. In my humble opinion, Ashbery will stand in the same tall lineage as Pound/Stevens/Williams, etc. But intelligent people can disagree. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail