The Sonnets, by Ted Berrigan
Penguin Group USA (cover image courtesy of Pricegrabber)
(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.
Midwinter Day, by Bernadette Mayer
New Directions (cover image courtesy of Pricegrabber)
(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!
Slinger, by Edward Dorn
(Wingbow Press, 1975, out of print) The rare, brilliant, raw draw.I Remember, by Joe Brainard
Granary Books (cover image courtesy of Pricegrabber)
(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.
Mountains and Rivers Without End, by Gary Snyder
Counterpoint Press (cover image courtesy of Pricegrabber)
(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.
