Kenneth Koch — American Poet born on February 27, 1925, died on July 06, 2002

Kenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry, a loose group of poets including Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery that eschewed contemporary introspective poetry in favor of an exuberant, cosmopolitan style that drew major inspiration from travel, painting, and music... (wikipedia)

Certainly, it seems true enough that there's a good deal of irony in the world... I mean, if you live in a world full of politicians and advertising, there's obviously a lot of deception.
It's enormously cheering to get a good review by someone who seems to understand your work.
I certainly have the feeling that I'm the same person even though I've changed a great deal.
As for political poetry, as it's usually defined, it seems there's very little good political poetry.
When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful lot of clicking shut!