The Hatred of PoetryBen Lerner The novelist and poet Ben Lerner argues that our hatred of poetry is ultimately a sign of its nagging relevance. No art has been denounced as often as poetry. Its even bemoaned by poets: "I, too, dislike it," wrote Marianne Moore. "Many more people agree they hate poetry," Ben Lerner writes, "than can agree what poetry is. I, too, dislike it and have largely organized my life around it and do not experience that as a contradiction because