Writing Problems: "The card says 'Moops!'"

Rich, Gilbert, Merwin, Melnick, Ravitch

On the October 7, 1992 episode of Seinfeld, George and Susan play Trivial Pursuit with the “Bubble Boy.” George reads the question: “Who invaded Spain in the 8th century?” Bubble Boy gives the correct answer, “the Moors,” but due to a misprint, the question card says the answer is “the Moops.” George, irritated by Donald’s condescension, refuses to back-down. “The card says ‘Moops!’” George insists and won’t concede, until Susan accidentally depressurizes the bubble, crushing Bubble Boy.

What do the Moops have to do with poetry? I often encounter people who insist on reading poems literally. They are resistant to creating a poem’s meaning halfway, or they feel the poet has a fixed meaning to a poem, or they feel a poem is a puzzle that needs to be decoded, or that they need an

MFA to be qualified to read a poem, or they feel the style and aesthetics of a poem violate their own style and aesthetics, and are resistant to the poem even existing.

It may seem obvious, but it bears repeating, that poems are crafted things. The poet only has a partial role in forming a poem’s meaning. In fact, the most malleable, porous, and lasting poems tend to elude fixed meanings; they instead provide clarity to mystery.