I can't believe I missed the meeting where everyone declared Alex Knepper the sole arbiter of culture. Before he declares an entire medium dead, perhaps he can be bothered to research modern poetry, as opposed to just Googling Elisabeth Arden. I'll even give him a couple tips - Derek Walcott or Mary Jo Salter. I'd be interested in finding out why he thinks the lyrics of "Shrek: The Musical" are artistically superior to Walcott's epic "Omeros". I'm also confused as to the problem with "'emotional" poets, considering his love of Emily Dickinson. Has he even read anything by her? It may surprise him to know that Dickinson prayed at the oh-so-scary "Church of Expression", forgoing traditional poetic structure at the time so that she could - gasp! - express herself. Most shocking, though, is his demand that literature conform to those with special knowledge of vocabulary. God forbid those who don't know the big fancy words Knepper does ever seek to express themselves. This has to be one of the laziest column's I've ever seen The Eagle run.
David Grossman Senior, School of Public Affairs
