May 18 2010 I attended a talk by Ursula K. Le Guin, Gary Snyder, and Jerry Franklin, presenting their thoughts on (and some poems about) the Mt. St. Helens blast in 1980. First time I've seen Le Guin speak, third time for Snyder, second for Franklin. The woman who introduced the speakers (I didn't catch her name or position) seemed to irritate the California poet by associating him with Plato. Gary fired back by referring to Plato as the guy who would have excluded poets from his Republic (although I would qualify this aspect of The Republic with the redeeming parts such as the Cave Parable, the reincarnation panorama at the end, and so on).
Photo of the trio being awarded blankets, over the top of some guy's head.
There's a line in Cocteau's Orpheus, something like, "There's a riot at the poet's cafe," which would almost apply.
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