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“Should poets change their words to suit the immediate audience? Is it self-censorship or social grace? Is it more important to perform your work the way you wrote it, or to use it to reach somebody who might be put off by your original language?”
--Poetry Guide
“Hey I've been wanting to know, does this site allow profanity? You know: the seven dirty words you can't say on television.”
--Porcupine Smith
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The First Rule of the Internet is Access: info free flow to all. We're adamant about the Right to Know -- it's as important as the Right to Food and Shelter. The corollary is: what about children who cannot yet process porn and political rhetoric. Then there is morality, and the right of religions to censor as they see fit.
We recently received this email response to one of our early feature articles, Sparrow's Bad Poetry Seminar:
About Your Dr. Sparrow
I was reading the article written by this person. It was reading pretty good until I came across his vulgar use of unnecessary words. He writes on the tremendous amount of “bad” poetry we have out here. But it can't be any worse than someone who cannot write without the profuse use of the F word.... When children come here to learn how to write better poetry, should they have to be exposed to such vulgar writing habits in order to learn to write better poetry?
Poetry is always on the front of this one. So when we are called on it here at About Poetry, we reply, best we know how:
Thank you for your letter. The issue you raise is a deep one, and one that I deal with often -- I'm a poet, a free speech, anti-censorship advocate, a teacher (currently a college professor, but I've done workshops with kindergartners!), and a parent (three kids, the youngest now 16).
The whole and only answer to your question is: Context. The language we use depends on the Situation -- the place, the time. The FCC, for example, allows certain language after 10 or 11 pm, when children will be asleep, which they don't allow before then. In Afghanistan, women not only have to wear veils, but can't go to school after they're 12.
About Poetry is an educational tool for All Ages. Our links will take you around the world and through the history of poetry. In the small world centered around contemporary poetry Sparrow is something of a “star” -- outside the poetry community, not that many people have actually read him! He picketed The New Yorker magazine, for example, with a sign that read “Publish My Poetry / It's as Bad as the Poetry You Publish Now!” And guess what -- they did!
He also ran for President.
I say this to present a Context for him. His article on “How to Write Bad Poetry” is a spoof, of course, but it has serious meaning. For him to use a 4-letter word is to make a very serious point, which I think he does.
If a child happens on this relatively hidden portion of our site & has read this far in what is not an easy piece to read, I wonder how much harm he or she will receive. I'm willing to take the risk, you could say, because I will not tell Sparrow to change his piece -- it's too funny, too good and too true to the audience it's intended for.
I hope this explains my point of view. Again, thank you for visiting About Poetry, and I hope you'll continue to make use of the many varied aspects of our site.
Sincerely,
Bob Holman
And then we open this unanswerable question to your answers, Dear Readers. Stop by the About Poetry Forum & tell us what you think. Thanks!!
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