From Today's Columbia Spectator

But in academia, which has become the only real sanctuary for poets and poetry in America, “Howl” is still largely unread; the poem that won the legal battle in the courtroom lost the culture war in the classroom. Students of poetry, including those at Columbia, have been poorer off, and perhaps safer, too, from an intentionally provocative poem that explicitly attacks capitalism, the FBI, and war and that idealizes and romanticizes the lost, the lonely, and the outcast. After 50 years, “Howl” remains controversial in what it has to say and how it says it—by its serious subject matter and its simultaneous playfulness with words.  ¶ 5:10 PM