Let's keep it simple:

1. I did not troll TS. I've been a fan of hers a long time. I responded politely but pointed out that the opinions in her essay were unsupported. No insults. She chose not to respond, which is her right. I went on to write a couple of stories defending modern poetry from the kind of hackneyed criticism she had published.

2. I don't ask anyone to call me doctor. I used to, in the years when I was seeing patients, alleviating suffering and occasionally saving lives, and when I was teaching psychology to undergraduates. The kick is hardly sexual. I'm happy being Mr. Robson (or just Ed) now, since I'm a writer and no longer a professional psychologist.

3. Did you not say my degrees were imaginary? That definitely implies meaningless. You also said my name was imaginary, another deliberate insult.

4. I don't know if you went to college, but it's clear you are not educated. An educated person knows the value of studying the opinions of other people, and knows the difference between an educated opinion and drunken blather.

5. My 3 degrees represent about 15 years spent in actual learning. I had to serve an internship and conduct a research study (after years of studying "opinions") for my doctorate. In the course of earning my MFA I wrote poetry, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, creative nonfiction, and an 85,000-word novel. I also served as poetry editor for a journal and taught creative writing for four semesters.

6. I have published in dozens of magazines, and my writings on Medium have earned around $7000 so far. So yes, I actually do know something about writing.