in no order
* rule: no Selected or Collected Poems volumes
John Ashbery THREE POEMS
James Tate ABSENCES
Bernadette Mayer STUDYING HUNGER
Arthur Rimbaud SEASON IN HELL / THE ILLUMINATIONS (trans. Enid Peschel)
James Schuyler THE MORNING OF THE POEM
John Wieners NERVES
Ted Berrigan THE SONNETS
Joyelle McSweeney TOXICON AND ARACHNE
Lyn Hejinian MY LIFE
Ron Koertge THE FATHER POEMS
Amy Gerstler INDEX OF WOMEN
Ron Padgett & David Shapiro, editors AN ANTHOLOGY OF NEW YORK POETS
Eileen Myles SCHOOL OF FISH
Ron Silliman TJANTING
Elaine Equi SURFACE TENSION
Ron Padgett TOUJOURS L’AMOUR
Charles Baudelaire PARIS SPLEEN (trans. Louise Varese)
Stephane Mallarme A BLOW OF THE DICE WILL NEVER ABOLISH CHANCE (trans. Holly Cundiff)
Frank O’Hara MEDITATIONS IN AN EMERGENCY
Joe Brainard NEW WORK
David Trinidad THE LATE SHOW
Francis Ponge SOAP (trans. Lane Dunlop)
Kevin Killian ACTION KYLIE
Pierre Reverdy HAUNTED HOUSE (trans. John Ashbery)
Tim Dlugos ENTRE NOUS
Kenward Elmslie MOVING RIGHT ALONG
Ai CRUELTY
Michael Horovitz, editor CHILDREN OF ALBION: POETRY OF THE ‘UNDERGROUND’ IN BRITAIN
Tom Clark NEIL YOUNG
Joseph Ceravolo SPRING IN THIS WORLD OF POOR MUTTS
Rae Armantrout THE PRETEXT
Alice Notley HOW SPRING COMES
Harry Northup THE RAGGED VERTICAL
Jack Skelley MONSTERS
Amiri Baraka PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE
Jerome Sala LOOK SLIMMER INSTANTLY
Clark Coolidge OWN FACE
Bob Kaufman SOLITUDES CROWDED WITH LONELINESS
Bill Knott THE NAOMI POEMS: BOOK ONE: CORPSE AND BEANS
Jim Krusoe JUNGLE GIRL
Bob Perelman PRIMER
Rene Ricard 1979 – 1980
Jack Spicer BILLY THE KID
Bob Flanagan THE WEDDING OF EVERYTHING
Frederike Mayröcker SCARDANELLI (trans. Jonathan Larson)
Robert Creeley FOR LOVE
Tom Raworth MOVING
Judy Grahn A WOMAN IS TALKING TO DEATH
Charles North THE NEARNESS OF THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
Piero Heliczer YOU COULD HEAR THE SNOW DRIPPING AND FALLING INTO THE DEER’S MOUTH
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p.s. Hey. Someone here asked me recently if I would do a post featuring my favorite poetry books. There it is, although I’m sure I’m forgetting about books that would be in there. If any of you want to tell me some of your favorite poetry books in return, that would be great, but no pressure. ** Uday, Hi. When I was in high school, there was one boy who had quite long hair, and, for some reason, the school let him have it even though everybody else had to cut theirs so it didn’t hang below our earlobes. Maybe he was sleeping with the Principal or something. Cabins are okay, yeah, I agree. As long as they have WiFi. I’ve wanted to be immortal since I was a kid, and I still do. Life’s so exciting, and it just gets more and more exciting. But I guess I’d want the option to commit suicide if necessary. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Oh, uh, a gush of thanks back to you, ha ha. The person who’s the head of the division of Cannes that we’re submitting to is a filmmaker who I think knows my books, which could work in our favor or not since my books are hardly universally liked by those who know them. We did finish everything. Not that another day or two wouldn’t have let us make even more refinements, but it’s okay, yeah. Love was in a pretty pervy mood yesterday, interesting. Love publishing a book of his poems entitled ‘Ode to Dominik’s Dimensionality’, G. ** Daniel, Aw, thank you, maestro! Gorgeous! Everyone, Daniel is the sublimely gifted aesthetician/artist Daniel Portland, and he offered two adds to yesterday’s Sperm show, here and here. Those links lead to his blog and tumblr, and I highly recommend you bookmark both and keep your eyes peeled re: them. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Yeah, I spaced on the Acconci piece, strange of me. Thanks for the explanation, makes total sense. Yes, as imperative as PT is, don’t neglect your wonderful writing, please. And as far as come/cum, I apologize on behalf of my birth culture. ** Mark, Hey. Unless After8 is swamped or something, I think they’d be into it. They’re the awesomeest people. I’ll put in my good word. And I saw your email, and I’ll open it when I’m done here. Where there’s a will there’s a way? ** Misanthrope, ‘For some reason’, ha ha ha. Haven’t you got enough of your own and other’s at the moment? I thought ‘Dune 1’ was a soulless, self-important snooze, so … but, hey, I hope you don’t. ** Steve, I’m not sure about Cannes’s response time. Like I said, I’m trying not to bite my nails. I’m pretty sure I would agree with you about ‘Dune 2’. I find all of his films totally empty. And his little relentless trick of having every shot last three seconds longer than it should does not make it artful to me. Everyone, Two Steve reviews for you today: Rose Glass’ LOVE LIES BLEEDING here, and his ‘March music roundup, featuring Judas Priest and Reyna Tropical’ here. p.s. The blog has a little surprise for you tomorrow. ** Darby 🤨😐😑, It’s a very good, inspiring doc. You’d like it, I think. Oh, cool, I’m glad you looked into Dambudzo. It’s an amazing novel. And you’re absolutely right: it was published in 1980. My brain must’ve frozen up there for a second. Medical coding … interesting, I’ll look into that. Thanks! Ha ha, maybe I’ll buy a bunch of fake crows and put them in my windows just to be sure those pigeons’ reflections don’t turn them on too much. They are pretty randy. ** Justin, Your blog is wunderbar. Where has it been all my life? I’m on it. My long haired Sade reading scout days were probably my peak twink moment, it’s true. Happy Friday. ** Charalampos, ‘Black Sunlight’ is his masterpiece. His other books are very good, but that one is just insanely inspired and on fire. Tell me when Tsiknopempti is over so I can stop holding my nose. As I’ve said before, I don’t remember my dreams. All I remember is that they’re always extremely stressful. Enjoy yours. ** Cori Diaz, Hi, Cori! Really good to meet you! Thank you a lot for coming in. Thanks for the kind words, and, yeah, Metro Pictures was amazing. I was really sad when it gave up the ghost. Welcome to LA from afar! What’s taken you out there? Your writing? I’d love to know more about your writing. Recommendations … I should ask my writer friends there for the current top goings on. I know the bookstore Stories & Co. and their readings in Silverlake are a real go-to. Poetic Research Bureau @ the great 2220 building is very good. Hm, I’ll need to think and inquire. Come back and I’ll let you know once I’ve filled my mental coffers with tips. What area do you live in? Thanks again! ** Girl, Oh, name change. Hi. Hm, weirdly I didn’t have any faves. I think they all needed each other. You? Ah, a switch. Could be trouble. I guess you need to find him a man. Or deprive him, which might be more yummy. The film will probably be totally finished in a couple of weeks, I hope. And then the wait to find out when and where it will be born. That’s the hard part. You have an ideal Friday in particular in mind? ** Kyler, Well, hey there, K. It’s true that I’m not hugely surprised by your revelation. Which I will keep under my hat. Genet is awesome, yes, happy you’ve made that discovery. My favorite is ‘Funeral Rites’, but they’re all stellar. The length of ‘The Shards’ is the reason I’ve dawdled since my brain has been locked into the film for forever. But maybe not for too much longer. Good to see you, pal. ** Right. Look at poetry books and think about them please. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
*
What a fabulous selection! Half of these I have never heard of. Time to compile a list, and prioritise some books to buy. Thank you Dennis.
I cannot recall if you are a fan of Sylvia Plath, but I am currently reading a door stop of a biography entitled, RED COMET, which is just sensational. The criticism, the break down of myth, fact, her early years, and delving deep inyo the Plathian mystery of her life, death and career, it is truly a work of ingenuity and raw energy, and posesses a raw, and powerful perspective.
Amazing to see idea mentioned recently materialised in so grand way too Now I want to read all of these. I am sure some will be hard to find but not most. ACTION KYLIE and Rimbaud are the only ones I have near me
One I would mention is The Tennis court oath by John Ashbery
Do you know this what I am going to be reading for the next few years I start to transfer them on my notebooks <3
He’s doubtless featured in the Michael Horovitz anthology but I would defo include William Blake – Songs of Inocence and of Experience in my list.
Don’t really have any issue with spelling cum rather than come, as it helps to differentiate between the 2 things. It’s a rare Americanism that I’m in favour of!
Hi!!
I’m finding it very hard to function even on an absolutely basic level today, and I’d love to crawl into this post instead of working so, so much. I haven’t been reading nearly enough poetry lately. Thank you for this lifeline, seriously.
Okay, no, love can’t make a person like that the head of the division and then have them NOT like your books! Is it possible to know in advance when you’ll hear back from them? But, again, either way – huge, huge, huge congratulations on finishing the film! It’s an incredible achievement under any circumstances but an even bigger one considering all the nightmare bits you had to push through!
Awh, thank you, love! Intriguing! Love wishing my dog a happy 9th birthday, Od.
Hi Dennis, obviously, this post is amazing! I love Paris Spleen so much I’d like to be able to read it in French one day. I’ve been stumbling upon some James Tate poems online recently, and each time I’m like I need that! And I remember you sharing poems from that Cruelty collection before, and I absolutely loved them, though sadly, the whole book is hard to find in this philistine country. Re your previous post, ummm, I think I also enjoyed all the sperms you generously shared… speaking of sperms, why are you suspicious of my slave? You are right in that he did tell me he’d suck off any man I’d ask him to, which I find exciting, and I wouldn’t want to deprive him of this pleasure. But yeah, I don’t trust any exciting offer until it becomes reality… This Friday is boring and draning for me, because I’m now literally on the train to a shitty town to do some poetry stuff for a refugee thing. The only reason I’m doing it is because they’ve offered a good deal of dosh, otherwise, it’s really not my thing. Also, the guy who runs the whole thing is an unintelligent asshole whom I find really hard not to shout at. So, yes, I sincerely hope your Friday is/ was far more thrilling than mine?
Oh my gosh. Beautiful. Thank you Dennis!!!!! Re: Bob Flanagan. Swear to Gawd, “Fun to Be Dead: The Poetry of Bob Flanagan” is still due to publish….. soon. OH, and just today its editor Sabrina Tarasoff has big-ass review of Mike Kelley’s recent Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection Paris show out in Mousse. https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/a-review-as-an-essay-as-a-pamphlet-as-a-dream-state-mike-kelley-ghost-and-spirit-at-bourse-de-commerce-pinault-collection-paris
I too have The Shards sitting on my desk. Waiting… Hey, I approve yr Canne-do attitude. endless luv, Jack
Your list of poetry books is pretty perfect. I would add Alfred Starr Hamilton’s “A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind,” “Sundog: Selected Lyrics” by Scott Walker (lyrics, yes, but Scott’s writing is pretty good and reads to me like poetry), The Collected Poems by Bertolt Brecht, Complete Poems by Blaise Cendrars (trans by Ron Padgett), and, of course, Dennis Cooper’s “The Dream Police.”
Dennis, Great great great selections. Duh. I’ll always be grateful to Bernard for giving me one of his copies of Tim Dlugos’ poetry. That meant a lot to me and is one of my favorites ever.
Hmm, I found the first Dune impressive but I found something lacking. It probably helped that I saw it in IMAX. But yeah, there was something “not there” for me. Seems this second one makes up for it and they’re saying Timothee is great in it. We’ll see. Really, this thing is like an event and a lot of friends are going, including Alex, so it’s as much for me about getting together with everyone as it is seeing the movie. I’ll report back.
I hope you have a great weekend, Big D!
Dennis,
I love when your blog perfectly synchronizes with my life. I just discovered a new poet randomly on the shelf named Courtney Bush. The collection is called I Love Information and I love it so much. Her website had an “I love getting email” thing and I love emailing people so we’ve been corresponding. One of her poem’s had the word “Kyle” in the title and I misread it as Kylie and thought of Action Kylie, and then later in the poem she name dropped Kevin Killian which was so freaking weird. She said her grad school teacher Anselm Berrigan leant it to her. I def. discovered that book on this blog and met Kevin through here and then on FB.
So yes, please do check out I Love Information, I’m gonna gush about it in my weekly newsletter.
Corpse and Beans is my fav Knott book too, I found a copy shortly after moving to Portland. I’m glad I had no idea who he was (I didn’t know shit about anything) when I had him as a prof in college.
I’d add Actual Air by Dave Berman to my list as well.
Have you read The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner? It’s such a great essay, I’m re-reading it now.
Big love from Portland,
-L
A fine come gallery yesterday, Dennis. And with today’s theme, I’m reminded of Pierre Boulez’s composition Cummings is the Poet, haha.
I’m rarely in the mood for poetry these days, though I find some of my old favorites in your list: Ai’s Cruelty of course, Rimbaud, also different books by Koertge, Knott, Tate. I also love the early Marilyn Hacker, but she’s probably not your thing. Thom Gunn, Sharon Olds (though I think her work is a bit more uneven). I also have this slim item Idols by a certain DC, now fetching healthy sums online, but I’m not about to part with my copy.
Bill
Such a great list! I picked up a first edition of Frank O’Hara’s lunch poems when I was in NYC last year – one of my favorites! We will make something happen at Paris Ass in 2024 and plan a full in-person thingy for 2025. We have zines in a show opening on Saturday in Eagle Rock http://andpens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-06-at-3.55.47-PM.png
hey Dennis!
I always love reading your fav lists. thanks for putting this poetry one together. there’s some on here I’m also fond of and lots I haven’t read that I’m gonna look for.
some favs from me:
Rivers and Mountains, John Ashbery
Poèmes, Samuel Beckett
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake
Garments Against Women, Anne Boyer
Poems of Paul Celan (trans. Michael Hamburger)
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Revolutionary Letters, Diane di Prima
Killdeer, Phil Hall
Midwinter Day, Bernadette Mayer
Duino Elegies, Rainer Maria Rilke
The World Doesn’t End, Charles Simic
I’ve been periodically keeping up with the blog while working on the second draft of my long prose poem, which I’m thrilled to report is finally done. I’m gonna ask some friends for feedback on it. I’m thinking I might print it as a zine or send it out to some presses or both.
happy to hear all the post work on the film has been going smoothly. any plans to release a trailer?
hi dc!! and thank you thank you thank you!! what a treasure trove. as i suspected i only know three or four of these… maybe five or six if you count different translations. i can’t wait to delve.
my side of the bargain, my favourites. i’ll have to break the selected/collected poems rule, but i’ll keep breakages to a minimum:
Christopher Smart JUBILATE AGNO [ed. Karina Williamson]
Bashō BACK ROADS TO FAR TOWNS [trans. Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu]
Frank Stanford THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE THE MOON SAYS I LOVE YOU
Harmony Holiday NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL
Peter Reading PERDUTA GENTE
Miklós Radnóti FORCED MARCH: SELECTED POEMS [trans. Clive Wilmer and George Gömöri]
Aimé Césaire THE ORIGINAL 1939 NOTEBOOK OF A RETURN TO THE NATIVE LAND [trans. A. James Arnold and Clayton Eshleman]
Thom Gunn THE MAN WITH NIGHT SWEATS
Sakutarō Hagiwara CAT TOWN [trans. Hiroaki Sato]
Benjamin Fondane CINEPOEMS AND OTHERS [ed. Leonard Schwartz]
Diane di Prima REVOLUTIONARY LETTERS
Charles Simic DIME-STORE ALCHEMY: THE ART OF JOSEPH CORNELL [does this count?]
Anne Boyer GARMENTS AGAINST WOMEN
Ezra Pound THE PISAN CANTOS [plus acknowledgement that it’s about how great fascism is]
Dante INFERNO [trans. Charles S. Singleton]
M. NourbeSe Philip ZONG!
Hannah Weiner CLAIRVOYANT JOURNAL 1974: MARCH–JUNE RETREAT
John Berryman THE DREAM SONGS
Juliana Spahr THIS CONNECTION OF EVERYONE WITH LUNGS
Allen Ginsberg THE FALL OF AMERICA: POEMS OF THESE STATES, 1965–1971 [or HOWL AND OTHER POEMS, am conflicted]
Sappho IF NOT, WINTER: FRAGMENTS [trans. Anne Carson]
CA Conrad THE BOOK OF FRANK
Camille Ralphs AFTER YOU WERE, I AM
Robert Fitterman THIS WINDOW MAKES ME FEEL
Elizabeth Smart BY GRAND CENTRAL STATION I SAT DOWN AND WEPT
Hart Crane THE BRIDGE
Kevin Duane GREEN TITS AND FUR
Dr. Seuss OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
Jill Bennett, editor NOISY POEMS
Michael Rosen MICHAEL ROSEN’S BOOK OF NONSENSE
Edward Lear THE COMPLETE NONSENSE
Susan Howe MY EMILY DICKINSON
Jeremy Noel-Tod, editor THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE PROSE POEM: FROM BAUDELAIRE TO ANNE CARSON
Ishac Bertran CODE {POEMS}
Kenneth Goldsmith TRAFFIC
Walt Whitman LEAVES OF GRASS [1855 edition]
Peter Jones, editor IMAGIST POETRY
William Carlos Williams PATERSON
Charles Olson THE MAXIMUS POEMS
Edward Dorn GUNSLINGER
Toon Tellegen RAPTORS [trans. Judith Wilkinson]
Cameron Pierce and Michael J. Seidlinger, editors 40 LIKELY TO DIE BEFORE 40: AN INTRODUCTION TO ALT LIT
Geoffrey Chaucer THE CANTERBURY TALES, especially THE MILLER’S TALE
Jeann-Luc Champerret THE LASCAUX NOTEBOOKS [trans. Philip Terry]
Wallace Stevens HARMONIUM
William J. Higginson and Penny Harter, editors THE HAIKU HANDBOOK
Emily Dickinson THE COMPLETE POEMS [ed. Thomas H. Johnson]
Frank O’Hara THE COLLECTED POEMS [ed. Donald Allen]
William Blake THE COMPLETE POEMS [ed. W.H. Stevenson]
Paul Valery AN ANTHOLOGY [ed. James R. Lawler]
Antonin Artaud VAN GOGH: THE MAN SUICIDED BY SOCIETY [trans. Catherine Petit and Paul Buck]
Stevie Smith SELECTED POEMS [ed. James MacGibbon]
Don Marquis THE ANNOTATED ARCHY AND MEHITABEL [ed. Michael Sims]
Kenneth Koch THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE! COMICS MAINLY WITHOUT PICTURES
[last minute addition]
John Giorno SUBDUING DEMONS IN AMERICA: SELECTED POEMS 1962–2007
Thanks for the list. So much to explore. I’ve seen a lot of mentions of The Shards here lately. I really enjoyed it. I think it’s the best thing Bret has written since Glamorama. Which is my favorite of his novels. Congrats on finishing the film! My fingers/toes are still crossed for Cannes.
I’ve had an extremely rough time the past 2 days. I don’t want to go into it in full here, but a medical situation arose which requires me to consult my doctor as soon as I can. Although his receptionist promised he’d contact me this morning, I’ve yet to hear back, so I’m really struggling with anxiety.
That said, I look forward to tomorrow’s surprise!
Outside of Rimbaud et al who you’re very familiar with, I’ve recently found new fascination with the works of Basho, Kalidasa, Dambudzo Marechera, Marie Howe and Tsetaeva. (This is not to presume you’re unfamiliar with them but I cannot offhand recall you mentioning them). I still don’t know about immortality. I have an idea in development that death gives meaning to life. I know it’s overdone but I’m doing it differently. I think. Maybe the curse of youth is to think you’re doing things innovatively only to later find out you’re pastiche.