I just came across the thing I want for Father's Day: David Orr's book, Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry.
For more on the book, visit this great NPR piece.
I'm always intrigued by the ever-present need (insecurity?) for poets to justify poetry's necessity, as if it were air or water, while at the same time it seems like the poetry in lit journals these days is, to me, growing more and more pointless, hermetic, easily parodied, and untethered to meaning.
Which is troubling, for as a maker of poems myself, I am continually striving for meaning, memorability, and depth that carries over to the reader, whoever that person may be (even if it's, well, me). I hope Orr can explain to me why that is, and what the heck is going on.
--MJH
