Let Me Roll It

I spent about 3 precious hours of my evening scouring the internet checking links provided to me by CalArts' student services department for grants/fellowships/funding. I've decided that they don't exist for writers, especially not poets. How come visual artists get all this damn money? I'm trying to bear my soul through the poetic text and I need some damn skrill! I came upon two depressing items:

Exhibit A:
$1000 for LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT. Can't we give them a little more exciting? Maybe like a little statue worth $1000?

Exhibit B:
It apparently takes an Italian poet a lifetime to be worthy of two-thirds of this award. While there are many region-focused awards these days, Marin County (for those of you who aren't CA county savvy) is the fifth wealthiest county in the US, with the average annual income hovering around $100k. What the @*%¡ does a rich-ass Marin County resident need $1500 to write poetry for? They probably earn that in the time it takes for me to take a dump.