Michael Robbins: To the Drone Vaguely Realizing Eastward

Angela, you must be more specific! How do I know you? I know almost as many Angelas as I know Jennifers. And I know a lot of Jennifers. (I know but one Sina.)

the poem: probably funny, even ok – at what it wants. but i just don’t see the allusion to bombay, mumbai etc. it seems to have been herded in only to sustain the ‘clever’ wordplay/final stanza/line : bomb bay. in this present reality, i don’t remember bombay (or anywhere in india) ever being a victim of a drone attack, and i’m not sure what the name change is getting at. ha! so yeah, it just seems merely utilitarian/filler; the usage i mean, which kind of makes the whole poem, should i say this, really dumb and ignorant, I don’t want to say this, ok, but i’m sure this is not the first time You’ve been called that when it comes to affairs with third, fourth, or fifth worlds. maybe this won’t get posted ( secret reverse ploy to ensure that it is?)
Let’s get another thing straight: i really, really, don’t want to intentionally hurt the poet by saying these things, no way, I want to hurt the poem. only the poem. I’m sure the poet is sincere, whatever that means, cares about most things I care about, and also likes a sky or two.

Sincerely,
bombay

Um, Pakistan used to be part of India. The religio-political movements responsible for its separation from India (& Bangladesh’s from Pakistan), w/ their concomitant name changes, have an echo in the motivations for the renaming of Mumbai. And of course Mumbai has been the center of Islamist attacks, so is hardly far removed from the political backdrop of our drone programs. It’s fine that I have to work this out for you, but it’s not fine that you assume yr own failure to read closely enough has an objective correlative in the poem itself.

As for hurting my feelings, I can’t begin to imagine what circumstances could lead you to believe an anonymous comment on the internet could possibly affect my own sense of myself as a poet. I mean, it’s not as if I lack for critical validation of my success as an artist.

why are you stating evident historical facts as arguments?

no one can argue, unless forcibly amnesiac, that pakistan was made out of india, and the relgio-political separations etc… they have an echo in….mumbai? anything to manufacture a poem.
bless my failures, i guess.

“Pakistan is our ally; we’re bombing their country. India is our ally; we’re not bombing theirs.” – ha. thank you for that bit. again why are you stating…and what does that really imply, some kind of skewed favor or probably you’ll manufacture a theory around that too – which will be just…

“name change is a metaphor for”…the problem may be that your cultural complacency helps you think your armchair misreadings can always be backed up, with more misreadings, or just a reiteration of what’s already evident – as a decoy. you have only told me wikipedia, which is understandable. and i’m sure nothing can hurt mass produced poetry robots whose subject-picking is, well, only subject-picking. i’m not ashamed of being called ignorant in the face of this. it means i still stand open to be corrected. i’m sure you don’t lack for critical validation of yourself as an artist, a lot don’t – but most of them also know they might write a bad poem once in a while.

anyway, probably all i wanted to say/ or/ was that it’s a bad poem, and i’m sure i’ve wasted my time even trying to think why. most of your peers will, evidently, like it and re: validation of yorself in producing etc.