Sturgeon's Law, boiled to its essence, is "90% of everything is crap." This law derives from an interview in which science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon answered a question about bad SF by saying "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." So the Sturgeon's Law most people quote is actually one word off, but doesn't "crap" sound better than "crud"?
Anyway, this site applies the concept to poetry: No better than 10% of the poetry out there today is good and worth remembering. (I mean 10% of what's published and pushed as good, not of everything that everyone writes and calls "poetry," which would make the percentage much, much, much lower.) Donald Hall says "most poetry of any moment is terrible," and that a great anthology would have to include "one-hundredth of one percent of the poems published" in the time it covered. I like that statement more than I like his poetry.
You may notice that, in addition to all the discussion and recommended reading, some of my own poetry is accessible from here, and ask "Are you really arrogant enough to think your own work qualifies as good?" My answer: well, maybe 10% of it. Enjoy the site!
