This is not a eulogy

North Dakota poet Timothy Murphy (1951-2018).

     The erbsenzähler will not mourn.  As a group of writers, they will continue to count and measure success by publishing credits in unread venues.  "Published is perfect" is their motto...for their own work, at least.  To them, being concerned about objective merit is to wonder about the tree falling in the forest.  As long as editors put out words and sponsors/subscribers still pay to see theirs in print, who cares about quality?  It's not like anyone is going to memorize, perform, remember or quote any of these verbal collages, right?

     Poet and critic Timothy Murphy was one of the very few people who gave a damn about whether a poem had artistic merit or not.  He died yesterday.  We will miss him, whether we know it or not.