A Counterblast to NPM

A tip of the beret to VMcC for linking to this essay, providing a contrarian position about National Poetry Month. 

Charles Bernstein makes a persuasive argument against commodifying marginality. Poetry should not aspire to be (to borrow a term) safe, legal, and rare. "Acceptable" poetry is anything but rare: it needs only honest recognition, not charity.

If a national month for poetry is to mean anything, it should give equal time to risky, dangerous, important writing--even if it estranges many readers. Though I am more optimistic than Bernstein about "unsafe" poetry finding a wider audience. People often embrace art they don't fully comprehend if it's dangerous and exciting: look at the success of hardcore rap outside the urban market. B-Real put it most frankly: Here is something you can't understand. I think people dig that.