The “McPoem” — It’s the term Donald Hall used to describe the kind of hastily written poems wrapped and delivered by the bagful from MFA workshops across the country. These poems might be generic; but they can also be fast, easy, and sometimes taste really, really good.
What I like most about the McPoem is that everyone can “get it.” You don’t have to
“tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it”
(from “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins)
Shorter poems that are fun AND enjoyable? Sign me up! I need more of those in my life!
Poet Ronald Wallace has written a fantastic poem on the “McPoem” called “The McPoem”: http://www.blueridgejournal.com/poems/rw-mcpoem.htm
Shortly before Donald Hall’s passing, I finished an MFA at CSU Long Beach. Here is my essay “In Defense of the McPoem” as published by catheXis northwest press:
Poetry and Other Writing 