For years I've tried to get into poetry, but most poetry is boring, and poets often come across as being so arrogant and full of themselves, especially the academics. Many women poets seem to be so angry and bitter. The only poets that I've been able to read and understand and relate to are Charles Bukowski, Wendell Berry, and oddly enough, ancient Chinese and sufi poets, in particular Li Po.
To Tu Fu From Shantung by Li Po
You ask how I spend my time--
I nestle against a treetrunk
and listen to the autumn winds
in the pines all night and day.
Shantung wine can't get me drunk.
The local poets bore me.
My thoughts remain with you,
like the Wen River, endlessly flowing.
