The Poet Wears Prada

David Orr is AGHAST. In his latest essay, the On Poetry columnist for the New York Times Book Review writes: "The signs of the coming apocalypse are many, but none are starker than this Web headline in the April issue of O: The Oprah Magazine: 'Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets.' Yes. Spring fashion. Modeled. By rising young poets. There follows a photomontage of attractive younger women — some of whom are rising poets mostly in the 'I get up in the morning' sense, but all of whom certainly look poetic — in outfits costing from $472 to $5,003." At the end of his piece, Orr simply throws up his arms and says, "Oh, Oprah. Oh, poetry." I sympathize. But nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing. For sanity's sake, it is best to simply bow to the absurd. And yet, even a pretense at poetry is probably better than no poetry at all.