lays claim

Poetry lays claim to all language-made things that fit no other genre.

obviously magnificent

You can’t explain the poem: you can’t say what it’s about, you can’t even make a claim for it as a poem, yet it manifests itself in the space of the page and declares itself magnificent.

stay cool

Poet, learn to make no great claim.

limited love

They claim to love poetry but can’t name more than a handful of poems beyond their own.

against fiat

Critical reputations are made on grand claims. Yet I’m suspicious of all grand claims, finding hedged hypotheses sufficient to most subjects, conjectures able to brush past any exceptions.

poetry's province

Poetry claims all texts not immediately recognized as such.

they aren't avant-garde

Those who have to claim to be avant-garde, aren't.