Writing Problems: What to do about poetry monsters?

Pound, Stein, Ko Un, Neruda, Larkin

What should poetry readers do with problematic poets? Should they be read? Should they be taught? Should they be permanently cancelled? Should we try to separate the artist from the art? Is that even possible? Is there a difference between a monster being studied and being celebrated?

There are lots of opinions about this ranging from full cancellation to reading with context to big sighs or big yawns. None of these solves the problem, though. The poems they made keep staring us in the face.

To be sure, there will always another problematic poet. Part of their tenacity to climb up ladders veils another side, which is to sexually harass, terrorize, intimidate, defend ego to the death, or—like the Subway bread exhaust—they pump bile into aerosol form from their offices into the halls and beyond.