When your guides were limited to choosing the top 10 American epic poems of the 20th century, these got lopped off the list. But there are more, always more! Happy epic reading!
1. The Sonnets, by Ted Berrigan
(Viking Penguin, 2000) The new Penguin edition has a great foreword by Alice Notley. This is an essential text in the education of a poet.
2. Midwinter Day, by Bernadette Mayer
(New Directions, 1999) Yes it is: every thought, every action, every detail, every dream and feed the baby that Bernie did on one fateful day. The discipline! The Beauty!3. Slinger, by Edward Dorn
(Wingbow Press, 1975, out of print) The rare, brilliant, raw draw.4. I Remember, by Joe Brainard
(Granary Books, 2001) The simplest of ideas: one childhood memory after another, listed in all their awkward glory. The overall effect is so loving, sweet, and embarrassing that this could be Everybody’s High School Yearbook.5. Mountains and Rivers Without End, by Gary Snyder
(Counterpoint Press, 1996) Forty years in the writing, “In the lofty sky / Is the nest of the vulture. / May it remain unchanged.” Zen, ecology, poetry.