Overheard at the West Chester Poetry Conference
BY Annie Finch
“Welcome to the largest conference in the country devoted to poetry.”
“Go ahead, tell us about the dactyls and the anapests, we can handle it.”
“Thanks—thought I’d go for the Clara Bow look.”
“So I said to Madeleine Albright, “good job in Lithuania.””
“That’s it! It’s just a more well-groomed crowd than most poets.”
“I could tell you were in love! You look great!”
“I’ve read every word Tom Disch ever wrote, except for some of his reviews.”
“I call it the Single-Syllable Shout Method of teaching prosody.”
“I was commissioned to do a commemorative sculpture. It’s on Commonwealth Avenue.”
“The prosody award is what I try never to miss. That’s where I really learn something.”
“So, what do you think of Der Rosenkavalier?”
“It only has seven syllables, but it’s an iambic pentameter.”
“Will men be able to contribute to the women’s poetry timeline?”
“There are a lot of new urbanists in the new conservatism.”
“Gotta go fiddle—they’re getting out the instruments.”
“Richard Wilbur is so incredibly humble.”
“It’s kind of in scattered couplets.”
“Is there dancing later?”
Annie Finch is a poet, translator, cultural critic, and performance artist. She is the author of seven...
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