I suppose poets are as guilty as anybody else. Yes we pander to our patrons, flaunting our verse like one of the Daughters of Joy flaunting her cleavage. In spite of our claims to be above such things, claiming we strive only to perfect our art; we crave recognition, respect and the financial security which goes with these things.

May Aea have mercy on some poet or writer who actually achieves financial success; the anger of their less well rewarded fellows is terrible to behold as they fall over each other in their eagerness to denounce the successful one as a ‘sell out’ and claim that their work is merely ‘formulaic’ or ‘derivative’ and denounce them as ‘hack writers.’ The hells can conjure up no fury as terrible as that of a mediocre writer who realises that a rival has achieved some element of success!

Now to be fair, we…