the Ashbery poem is, unsurprisingly yet also startlingly, amazing.

You know, I like Ashbery as much as anyone, but after awhile, all his poems start sounding a bit alike; this one wasn't really startling at all for me. It was . . . Ashbery. Actually, I was surprised how much I liked August Kleinzahler's poem.

I've been following Jordan's campaign against the word "should" for some time now, but hope that Obama's victory won't mean bi-partisan poetry as well. What would people write in comments streams?

Joe, thanks for the shout out. Kleinzahler's got the best nose in poetry and his eye is in the top 50 in his league. (Ear's still good but the kids these days! Have you read Devin Johnston's new book? The game changed.)

As for my campaign... as ever I'm just following one of the best...