Poetry: an art student at a certain stage

an art stu­dent at a cer­tain stage
–Ger­ald Locklin
From The Modigliani/Montparnasse Poems

she hiss­es at her elders,
“he is not con­sid­ered major nowadays.”

i want to ask her why she cares
what he’s considered,
why she cares what her guests
think of him,
how high­ly she her­self feels
he should be esteemed,
and whether she does not find often
that she dis­agrees with those who drive
her to the pas­sive (though aggressive)
voice.

but we have all been stu­dents once,
and it’s a ter­ri­fy­ing thing to be,
so impressed by the glib self-assurance
of the arbiters of fashion,
and as such so eas­i­ly enlist­ed into the
(tem­po­rary) ranks of the cul­tur­al terrorists.