Lists & List Poems

I found the above list on the sidewalk and added it to my collection of found language. Most found lists are practical and not meant to be interesting as language--quickly scribbled mental placeholders on the way to objects, places, things to do. The above is most likely a list of things to buy at the hardware store, a narrative of decoration lurking in this list of things: hang the drapes, paint the walls.

What makes a list a list poem? In the above example, if, say, "earthworms" appeared after "rollers," or "holy rollers" instead of "rollers," the list would swerve from obvious ("things to decorate house") to curious, forcing the reader to wonder how earthworms or holy rollers relate to the other items in the list.

Compare the above practical list to the impractical-but-surprising list in the following poem, written by children, that appears in Larry Fagin's The List Poem:

King Midas Touch

1 pound egg shells
2 pounds of mosquitoes (bones removed)
1 purple duck with polka dots
1 golden egg
A half of a frog
1 toenail of a dodo bird
3 feet of an ant (wash carefully)
1 eyeball of a cross-eyed bat
1 rose stem

The above poem combines uncommon/impossible objects and images ("mosquitoes (bones removed)" and "cross-eyed bat") with common words, phrases and lists found in instruction manuals like cookbooks (quantity-followed-by-object, like "1 pound egg shells"; noun-driven lines studded with occasional verbs, like "wash"). This combination of the extraordinary (content) and the ordinary (form) makes the above list closer to a list poem than to a list.

The relations between items/objects in a list poem often serve in place of metaphor. In list poems, instead of metaphors that conspicuously announce relations ("My love is like a red, red rose"), the list creates relations in a more oblique way. Here's an example of a found list taken from titles of artworks in the spring 2008 Tyler School of Art thesis exhibition:

Lookout
Sketch for path-o-matic
Multiple accounts of disturbing the piece
Intermission accomplished
Beautygirls
Blasterbike
Everything is possible
Compost
Fabulation
Can I go home yet
A place to see before you die

From any found list, you can of course rearrange or work into and between words and phrases and images: is "Lookout" a place or a command? Are the Beautygirls on Blasterbikes? If so, where do they go? What is a blasterbike, anyway? If everything is possible, then what fabulations arise from compost? Is home among the places to go before you die? Because the intent of this list of titles is less determined than the found list of things-to-buy, it includes more oblique possibilities. And from the above list, of course, you can rearrange or work into and between the words and phrases.

Here's a found list poem based on the names of pro wrestlers:

The Rock
The Undertaker
The Big Bossman
Goldust
Godfather
Golga
Edge
Blue Meanie
Tiger
Dr. Death
The Animal
Hawk
Thrasher
Mosh
Faarooq
Skull
8-Ball
El Pantera
Diamond Dallas
Rowdy Roddy
Bam Bam Bigelow
The Warrior
The Disciple
The Giant
Big Poppa
Wrath
Disco Inferno
Barbarian
Raven
Glacier
British Bulldog
The Anvil
Psychosis
La Parka
Tokyo Magnum
Lodi
Tough Tom
Mean Mike
Bobby Blaze
Bull Pain
Roadblock
Johnny Swinger
Johnny Attitude
The Ringmaster
Cactus Jack
New Diesel
New Razor Ramon
Doomsday
Unibomb
Christmas Creature
The Mountie
Cannonball Kid
Kamakazi Kid
The Interrogator
Earthquake
Shark
Avalanche
Typhoon
Tugboat
The Shockmaster
Canadian Strongman
2-Cold Scorpio
Flash Funk
Warlord
Kabuki

Lists of words heard on the train; lists of the names of mixed drinks; lists of the names of shoes in a fashion catalog . . . the possibilities are endless.

Here's a list poem, "Interior Blues," by Sherwin Williams:

Splashy drizzle
Great Falls
Jay Adrift
Mediterranean Regatta
Dockside Rapture
Blue Cod
Fresh Water
Belize Leisure

And another entitled "White":

Ionic Ivory
Panda
Polar Bear
Pearly
Heron
Flour
Dover
Egg shell
Eaglet
Venetian Lace
Roman Column

CATALOG/LIST POEMS

Here's the link to the Philadelphia Calendar Poem by former students. You can also find the link under "Labels" to the right.
And here's a favorite catalog/list poem, from Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno:

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For tenthly he goes in quest of food.
For having considered God and himself he will consider his neighbor.
For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness when God tells him he's a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incomplete without him, and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
For he is of the Lord's poor, and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually—Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.
For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
For he is docile and can learn certain things.
For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience upon approbation.
For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
For he can jump over a stick, which is patience upon proof positive.
For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom.

For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
For the former is afraid of detection.
For the latter refuses the charge.
For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
For he killed the Icneumon rat, very pernicious by land.
For his ears are so acute that they sting again.
For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.
For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.
For the electrical fire is the spiritual substance which God sends from heaven to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep.

--Christopher Smart, from Jubilate Agno

Poetics 1

I enjoyed writing a poem about an object. The most difficult part of the assignment was choosing the object. I practiced writing the object poem about mundane things such as a bagel and bottle of hand sanitizer. Because I am a painter I approached the poem like doing a painting of a still life. My practice poems were accompanied by drawings to help get me into the right mind set for writing an object poem. My drawing of hand sanitizer, and poem I did at work out of boredom. The hand sanitizer had no meaning behind it and so I ended up choosing to write my object poem about an object that I had already painted on my own; an orchid given out at the memorial service of a friend. While painting the orchid I thought about my friend but visually represented the orchid. I wanted to some how preserve and represent my friend through the still life painting while also staying true to the orchid. The process of writing about the orchid was similar to painting it; I wrote about it from observation trying to visually represent it, but at the same time attempted to cast a subtle layer of meaning behind the visual representation of the orchid.

Poetics 1

When I first sat down to write about an object, I got an immediate writers block. I sat and sat, looked around the room and couldn't find what I wanted to write about. Then the Ah Ha! moment came to surface. As I was taking off my sweatshirt I smelled me perfume, so I decided I would write about the perfume bottle. After sitting and describing the bottle for 20 minutes, I didn't like the way it was turning out. Then I began to look around the room, when i glanced at the T.V. an Apple commercial was on, I thought yeah! my iPod!

As I begun to write I foucused on the shape, look, and color of the iPod. After I got that covered I foucused on what it does and how it works. I figured I wanted to write a poem that rhymed but with no certain style.

I felt like this was difficult to write because it was a topic I need to follow, compared to any other poem I usually just write what I feel that day with no limits.

Poetics 1

I chose to write on “My Slippers,” because they bring me comfort and joy. It’s rare that something so simple can bring such pleasure, and at any time of the day or night. It seems with all the fancy trappings in this world, that a well-worn pair of slippers become their most comfortable just at the time they need to be discarded. They go with me into every corner of the house, but have also been known to venture down the stone driveway to retrieve, the mail or a wayward dog. Whoever invented the slipper, was a genius and a person who also enjoyed simple pleasures. I love my slippers and feel comfort when I put them on. Yes, in my own way, I feel like a queen. I feel pampered and loved and cared for by a thin soled pair of synthetic slip-ons. The poem reflects this. I felt the object poem was most difficult to write, because It was meant to focus on the “thing,” and not what feelings and emotions that thing evoked in me. The poem was intended to have me focus on the most minute details of the object and to describe them to the reader. It was difficult to try to focus on the characteristics of the slippers and still have it seem interesting. Writing an object poem vs. other kinds of poems, is challenging because one can interject more feeling and also the reactions and feelings of others. In writing this poem, I discovered how important simple pleasures are in life. I discovered that it’s important to treat yourself with loving care, and that it doesn’t take a lot of money or material things to enjoy life. What better relief is their than to slip into your comfortable slippers at the end of a long stressful day? It starts with the feet, but travels to the heart and mind. I discovered that my slippers bring me a close substitute to love, comfort, affection and companionship. Whenever I think about the way they make me feel, I am at ease and relaxed.

Poetics 1

The selection of my object was quite simple. On Saturday night, I was lying in my hammock thinking to myself, "I need to get started on my object poem". I was hesitant to write about such a large object because it was suggested to write about something no bigger than a face. However, what I attempted to do to counter that issue was to write a fairly small and simple poem about a larger object. Lying in my hammock is a simple pleasure, it brings a sense of calm. While I am in it, life is easy. My stress does not follow me there. Cradled and swaying in my hammock watching a thunderstorm that night compelled me to write my poem about it. I felt that lying in my hammock was, in and of itself, poetic.

Interestingly enough, I got out of the hammock to write the poem. It simply came to me as soon as I sat down with the paper in front of me. I have never written a poem by typing it; I always sketch out my intentions by hand, usually in ink which makes for a messy starting page. I have a tendency to avoid writing poetry because I think too much about it. I wrote a lot of poetry when I was younger, before, I believe, college forced me to look so deeply into everything in front of me, including my own work. For the first time in years, I was able to write a poem that simply came to me. The revisions came after the basic skeleton was formed on the page, and it began to really take shape. I don't think it's a coincidence that I was in "hammock mode" -- calm, open, easy -- when I was finally able to write a poem in this organic way again.

Poetics 1

I found the object poem to be harder than I originally thought. I sat in my house looking around me and found nothing interesting really. I moved to a new room and again nothing that really stuck out at me. Finally I said, "Hey Mom, give me an object I can write a poem about." To which she replied, "How about an eraser." And I went on from there.

When writing this poem I actually didn't look at an eraser at all. I found it easier to think of one in my head and the different aspects of it that I remember. It actually brought me back to my childhood because I hadn't really used one of those block erasers in a long time. I think it was easier to write the poem not looking at the eraser so that I didn't get all caught up in just the outside of it. I hoped to talk about the interior and exterior in my poem and thinking about it in my mind made this easier.

I discovered that there is a lot more to an eraser than meets the eye. I really thought I was just going to write about what it looked like but when I got a little deeper I realized how important an eraser is really and how it has so much power that it can eliminate mistakes. I tried to model my poem like the one we read in class about the oyster. I wanted to be creative with it and end with a strong line like the one about the pearl. My favorite part about my poem is the last line. If I left it out, you would just think,"okay cool eraser." But the last sentence gives it depth and a new perception of how the eraser can actually erase itself.

Mint poetics

I wanted to pick an object that had meaning to me, which was something simple yet original. I thought about how Mediterrean's rave about olives or olive oil, or even garlic. But I had to think about something that is just as valued and meaningful so that is when the fresh mint idea came to mind. I had it all set, to sit this stalk of mint down and write about how its used in our salads, in our foods, and our beverages. It's one of the those items that every Palestinian household would not be caught without! So, being that I was out "fresh" mint, and needed some for this assignment, I asked for some from a cousin which I had visited over the weekend after she presented us with some herbal tea with fresh mint in it. I just asked her for a stalk of it; not much, just enough for the assignment. She gave me a skeptical and I told her, "I'll tell you about this later!" So I go home with my mint and begin hashing out these thoughts about the mint until I recall the story she told me about it, and how she had a cousin of ours bring it over from our countryside town in Palestine, and how she replanted it and how it's grown wildly all over her suburban garden. I was struck by how they did this and how the mint made it through the travel and in this soil and how it's flourished. That is when I was compelled to turn it into a metaphor about the mint equating to the Palestinian people. Creating a dual identity, I tried to embody the mint as the diaspora of the Palestinians forced to flee their homelands, now as immigrants in a land which is unfamiliar to them, and how they have struggled to adapt, like most new immigrants coming to the US. So form this parallel in the lines describing the mint, to also describe the immigrant, who may be "darker", and "spiky edges" perhaps referring that they may not be so refined as the American standard. I add in the line about "adoring Jasmine" and "speaking to the butterflies" to show a gentle perspective to the uprooted mint/uprooted immigrant in the sense that they were kind and different than what you see now since they are busy striving like the rest of society in the US. Yet, perhaps the Jasmine could symbolize the floral essense of their mothers, or sisters, or loved ones, and the butterflies indicates the close relationships with kin they had in their native land. It goes without saying that many of the immigrants have soon adapted and "all the way to make time fly" just embodies all the ways that immigrants come to the US and are so wrapped up in succeeding and working, and playing that often, they forget how it was so simply and beautiful where they came from.However, by being busy, they can use it as a coping mechanism to forget the sorrow and loss they have lost as a people. The last stanza signfies how some flourished and made in America, while some have just broke through their customs and traditions to become "stubbornly wild"-same as the real mint in my cousin's garden. Those who have "withered" pertain to those who will never forget their struggles from being exiled and have not done well away from their beloved homeland.

Poetics 1

I wanted to write a poem about an Iphone because when I was thinking about an Iphone there was a lot of imagination that comes with it. I had many ways to try to be creative with the Iphone because there were a lot of applications in it. While writing, I wanted the readers to get a sense of how fascinating an Iphone really is and that is why I compared it to heaven. I tried to be very descriptive with this poem because I thought that being descriptive would help readers imagine the Iphone in their heads without having the object in front. It was a challenging assignment because I had a hard time connecting heaven to the Iphone. I wasn’t sure how to make the readers see the connection between the two. It was also challenging because I had never written a poem about an object nor do I write poems in that type of format. It was hard to write about an object because an object is empty and poets have to fill in the emptiness with their own creativity, by using words to make the object be seen as something of great use. On another note, I discovered that there are different formats of writing a poem. It was interesting to see what other student’s object poem was about. Overall, the assignment was different and definitely unique.

Museum Day

For the museum day assignment I went to the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill. The museum is mostly a collection of artwork made in Philadelphia and is small compared to most museums. The building is an old mansion that was turned into a museum. There is a field in front of the museum that has been made into a large sculpture garden. A memorable sculpture is of pigs in mud sculpted out of tar. Thinking about it now this sculpture stands out the most as being my favorite work of art at the museum.
Inside there are a few different exhibits up including: a wood cut display, a children’s art show, an American landscape show, an art show of local artists work, and upstairs paintings from their collection. I took notes on a nice little still life of a melon and beats by Stewart Shills. I have never done free writing as an exercise, it helped clarify what I was seeing and felt natural.

Museum Visit

I've taken many trips to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and having an assignment that required me to visit was a great opportunity to enjoy the museum. What was strange this time was "scouting" for piece of artwork that was moving enough to write about. Considering that this was a criteria, it became very hard to focus on one thing. It became even harder to realize, amongst the many jewels of the museum which piece would be "the one!".

I swiftly passed the Flemish works, the scultpures, the European Art, the Contemporary Art and still did not find it. Somehow, looking to find something was more difficult than simply admiring Cezanne or the Renoits.

As time passed and the museum was going to close, a scultpure struck my attention. One I've never seen before! It was the sculpture of Diana, The Roman Goddess of the hunt by Saint-Gaudens located on the 2nd floor by the stairs. How many times as I child, did I play on those stairs that led to the upper galleries, even admiring the stairs that led to so many rooms full of splendor, could I miss Diana??? I could not believe that it had never struck me as something so facinating, and not because it was on my way out! Really, it is a special sculpture that depicts woman grasping her bow and arrow, with one foot poised upon a sphere as she focuses on her prey. Her elongated nude body depicted strength, femininity and beauty, which I appreciated much. Only after I convinced myself that this is "the one" that I realized I would be focusing on such an explicit piece!

Museum/Gallery Visit: The NoShows

I was fortunate enough to be able to do something different for the museum/gallery visit assignment. On Friday night I was showing work in a group art opening at The Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem, PA. I am a photographer, and ten of my pieces were included in this show. Six other incredible artists (and close friends of mine!) also had their work on display. Collectively, we call ourselves The NoShows. The exhibit included photography, jewelry, graphic design, mixed media/painting, and pottery. It was a night of close friends, live music, eclectic art, and of course food and wine! If anyone is interested, some samples of the work included (not everything is shown here, unfortunately) can be found at www.myspace.com/thenoshows229.

The night before the opening, my friends and I were at the gallery for about four hours hanging the show and preparing for the big night. I took this time to reflect on some of the pieces that my fellow NoShows brought to hang. Although there were many different types of media included, the majority of pieces were photographs. Five of the seven artists were showing photography. There can be a tendency with photographs to bleed together in a show. However, we mixed everyone's work together on the walls which is a fairly uncommon gallery practice. This made me think about the infinite possibilities and approaches within one medium -- or genre, perhaps, in the case of poetry -- and how each photograph stood on it's own and was completely different from the one that came before it. Each photographer in the show had a unique style and vision: from the shot itself, to the edits, to the way it was printed and framed. With this in mind, I actually chose three different photographs of flowers by three different artists that were all hanging together to take notes on. Although the medium and subject were the same, each photograph was distinct. Not only did I reflect on each piece individually, but their similarities and the ways in which they were all related crept into my notes as well.

Museum/Gallery Visit

I'm always overwhelmed by the atmosphere and the collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I saw many wonderful and moving works of art, but it was the title of the sculpture on the grounds of the museum that inspired me most. "Social Consciousness" is a large bronze outdoor piece by Jacob Epstein. http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artist/epstein_jacob.html

Jacob Epstein was known for creating contravesial works of art. Epstein was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the "3rd Sculpture International," held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949. On the base of the sculpture, is a Walt Whitman inscription. "Social Consciousness, A grand, sane, towering, seated mother, Chaired in the adamant of time." This piece stood out to me because of my interest in social issues and human rights. I like the idea that we are one human family. The concept of social consciousness being a mother, fits in well with that. The sculpture itself, is towering and moving. I see compassion demonstrated in the figures on either side of the mother. The mother seems to be proclaiming the need for this caring and compassion. She is the consciousness. To write about this sculpture helped me to remember my interest and committment to myself, to be more socially conscious. The sculpture and inscription went beyond what I was looking at and on to human rights issues like Darfur, child soldiers, and public executions. These are all issues that have helped me to become more socially conscious. To write on an actual piece of art, was something foreign to me. I usually write, based on my feelings at the time. It took a little more concentration to focus only on what the art was saying to me and not just on my feelings, moods and opinions.

Gallery Visit

On Thursday May 21st, I went to the Muse gallery on 2nd Street. This visit was my first time going to an art gallery, so I had no idea what it would be like or would a painting actually capture my attention enough to be able to write a poem on it.

When I walked in it was quiet and the paintings were displayed all across the walls of the gallery. As I walked around and looked at them one of the paintings caught my eye immediately. The piece “Almighty” was the structures of a man, sooner than you know it ideas starting running through my head.

I saw him as a protector or a man who is a superior to his people. I also got the idea of the painting being done by a woman who was madly in love with him so she painted in many colors to show his different layers, and put them all together to show the figure of this man. I am looking forward to writing a poem on this painting because I connected with it so well.

Museum/Gallery Visit

On May 20^th 2009, I went to Creative writing poetry class and I was eager to see what Professor Featherston has in store for us. I realized my creative writing class has blogs that I must do before the due date so I tried to get everything done as soon as possible. After the class has ended at 10:30am, I was excited to start searching around for a piece of art work that I find interesting to blog about. I was walking to 13^th and Cecil B. Moore (where I parked my car) attempting to process what was being said in class earlier today. I then came upon a cute art work that had no name to go with the art work. Or I guess it could be a sculpture that I saw. It was a sculpture of a bear. It was quite simple but very cute. It opens the eyes to imagine what the artist attempted to show through their artwork. I love the cute black bear and every detail about it. Its paws and face was very detailed that it seems like the artist has made a bear look exactly like it was suppose to look like. There was also another artwork with graffiti that someone did on the sculpture. It was interesting to see that because that is considered art work. I basically took out a notebook and describe the sculpture and everything around the sculpture as best as I could. I just started to jot down anything that comes to mind. Some of the words that came to mind was; abandoned, black bear, alone, quiet, sunny day, and etc. I love the idea of writing anything that comes to mind because it makes it easier to refer to the notes to write a poem.

Museum/Gallery Visit

I really wasen't sure when I would have the time to go to an art gallery or museum before this blog was due. However, living right by South Street, I decided to take a stroll. I had always been mesmerized by The Magic Gardens on South Street. Each time I walked by, I had to stop to see if there were any new additions or try and find something different I never realized before. I'm not positive this is the piece of art I will be doing my poem on but I figured it was a good start.

I walked by several times before I start to jot down some notes. There are so many different angles and perspectives I wasen't sure where exactly to start. The parts of The Magic Gardens that stood out the most to me were the portraits of people that the artist, Isaiah, created using shards of glass, bottles and really whatever he could find. The whole piece really just stands out; not just to an artists eye, but anyone who walks by.

I also enjoy the name of the art; The Magic Gardens. When one thinks of a garden, it usually conveys flowers or plants, possible fruits and vegetables; however this Garden has none of those things. Isaiah compiles bottles, plates, bicycle wheels, and any glass objects to put together his Garden. It really is a magnificent work of art. I don't think my notes or even a poem on it would do it any justice.

If you haven't seen The Magic Gardens or want some more information, here is a helpful website. (just click on The Magic Gardens above)

JOURNALS

Regarding our discussion of types of journals and Peter Beard's work: www.peterbeard.com

Also check out the journals of Dan Eldon.

TEMPLE COURSE ON NEW YORK SCHOOL

Stan McDonald will be teaching a fall course on the New York School. Here are the details:

At the same time Beat poets such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were traveling the world and infusing poetry with apple pie and Eastern mysticism, the New York School was also redefining poetry through alignment with Abstract Expressionist painters such as Jackson Pollock and Grace Hartigan, incorporating high and low culture into their poems, and collaborating on poet's theatre. The original 1950's core--John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Kenneth Koch, and Barbara Guest--became one of the most influential groups of poets in the latter half of the twentieth century. Throughout this course, we will read their work and follow its impact during the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's with readings of poets such as Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Ted Berrigan, Alice Notley, and Bernadette Mayer. We will also tangentially touch on the St. Mark's Poetry Project, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry, and the small press tradition. The New York School is a story of friendships and collaborations; it is also proof that poetry is possibility! This course fulfills a 2000-level requirement for English majors.