Natural language or don't bother

[milo]

No I totally feel you, I mean that's the risk, right? Hopkins got to be like "look, a fucking bird, praise the Lord and shit" and it was cool that he actually didn't have anything else to say because it sounded like creme brulee in word form. If you're actually operating in the contemporary vernacular, then unless you come up with a captivating, original gesture or thought your poem will just be kind of drab. 

Pick yer poison, I guess!

It's true and if Duchamp hadn't already preceded the movement by 40 years I fear we would now be heartily declaring only ready-mades to be true art as only they represent the world as it truly is.  It was fun for a bit but the modern world is so saturated with dull prose already it all ends up a big yawn.

Eleven Beers
by Tom Snarsky

Whenever Sid would drink, he would drink
Eleven beers. This created some logistical
Problems, including a bad stomach and no
Driver’s license, but one advantage was the
One beer left over from the twelve-pack:
Sid would save the flimsy paperboard from
One of the twelve-packs, slowly filling it with
Survivors, though their survival was only
Temporary. Then when it was filled up
All the way Sid would go out to the lake,
Drink eleven beers, and instead of saving
One like usual he would open the last beer
And pour it into the water, where the little
Bluegill would be visibly confused in the
Shallows. One time, driving home from the
Lake, Sid didn’t notice the blue heron in the
Right lane, standing, but since he’d swerved
So far over the midline anyway the bird,
Instead of being killed, flew safely away.

I, of course, have a personal soft spot for poems about beer . . .