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Poet dropped for laureate job says criticism of poem ‘silly’

July 20, 2019 GMT

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In this Jan. 3, 2019 photo, Daniel Thomas Moran, right, stands with others in the audience during the second inauguration of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu at the State House in Concord, N.H. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is abandoning his pick for the state’s poet laureate amid growing criticism of the poet’s work and how he was chosen. Though he never formally nominated him, Sununu earlier this year chose Daniel Thomas Moran. Some say Moran is not qualified. The surfacing this week of a sexually suggestive poem Moran wrote about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice only intensified criticism. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The man whose nomination to become New Hampshire’s next poet laureate was withdrawn amid growing criticism of a sexually suggestive poem about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says he doubts people have even read it.

Daniel Thomas Moran said Saturday via email that the 2005 poem is the “imagined musings of an adolescent crush.”

He says the idea that the poem is “sexually laced or misogynistic is nothing less than silly.”

The 62-year-old Moran is a retired dentist and former poet laureate of Suffolk County, New York. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he chose Moran as laureate based on the entirety of his work.

Sununu abandoned his pick Friday when he learned of the poem. He asked the Poetry Society of New Hampshire to submit a new recommendation.