Immigrants in Our Own Land & Selected Early Poems (New Directions Paperbook) by Jimmy Santiago Baca

Immigrants in Our Own Land & Selected Early Poems is a new, expanded edition of Jimmy Santiago Baca's best-selling first book of poetry (originally published by Louisiana State University Press in 1979). A number of poems from early, now unavailable chapbooks have also been included so that the reader can at last have an overview of Baca's remarkable literary development.

Immigrants in Our Own Land & Selected Early Poems is a new, expanded edition of Jimmy Santiago Baca's best-selling first book of poetry (originally published by Louisiana State University Press in 1979). A number of poems from early, now unavailable chapbooks have also been included so that the reader can at last have an overview of Baca's remarkable literary development. The voice of Immigrants will be familiar to readers of the widely praised Martín & Meditations on the South Valley and Black Mesa Poems (New Directions, 1987 and 1989), but the territory may not be. Most of the poems in this collection were written while the author was in prison, where he taught himself to read and write. All the poems are concerned with the incarcerated or the disenfranchised; they all communicate the sting from the backhand of the American promise. As Denise Levertov has noted, Baca "is far from being a naive realist," but of poverty and prejudice, of material that is truly raw, he "writes in unconcealed passion."

Lucifer at the Starlite: Poems by Kim Addonizio

"Addonizio doesn't do pretty; beneath her considerable wit is a wickedly sharp edge."―Library Journal, starred review

With both passion and precision, Lucifer at the Starlite explores life’s dual nature: good and evil, light and dark, suffering and moments of unexpected joy. Whether looking outward to events on the world stage―the war in Iraq, the 2004 Asian tsunami―or inward at struggles with the self, these poems aim at the heart and against the feeling that Lucifer may have already won the day.

from “Lucifer at the Starlite”

     Here’s my bright idea for life on earth:

     better management. The CEO

     has lost touch with the details. I’m worth

     as much, but I care; I come down here, I show

     my face, I’m a real regular. A toast:

     To our boys and girls in the war, grinding

     through sand, to everybody here, our host

     who’s mostly mist, like methane rising

"SURPRISE ME" & Other Surprising Poems: Poems with surprise endings by ArtDax

Poems with surprise endings. Some of the poems will put a smile on your face. Others will disturb your mind

ArtDax was proclaimed International Poet Laureate by UPLI (United Poets Laureate International) on July 3, 2011 in Larissa, Greece.

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FROM THE AUTHOR

Some of the poems in my books are very personal. I write for myself first, second for my audience. I write poetry when I think I’m in love and when I’m happy, angry, helpless and sad. But most of all I write when I'm inspired, when I’m in awe of the joy of living and when I feel thankful for this majestic wonderland we live in. I write for myself when I want to embark on a journey to a place that exists only in my mind. I invite the reader to take the journey with me.

I would like to think that I am the "humbler poet" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow refers to in his poem, THE DAY IS DONE,

(Excerpts)

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Come, read to me some poem,

Some simple and heartfelt lay,

That shall soothe this restless feeling,

And banish the thoughts of day.

Read from some humbler poet,

Whose songs gushed from his heart,

As showers from the clouds of summer,

Or tears from the eyelids start;

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The poems below came from the books, "MAKE ME YOUR #1 - ArtDax Poetry" and "SURPRISE ME":

“SURPRISE ME”

Today around lunch time I was dying for sushi

so my friends and I went to Bistro Yama Sushi

“What would you like?” the waitress asked me.

“Tempura or udon, sushi or sashimi

ramen, yakisoba, tonkatsu, teriyaki

or boiled carp, fave fish of Zatoichi?”

With so many choices, I just replied “sushi”.

“What would you like?” she asked, “anago, unagi,

hirame or saba, maguro hamachi?

Mirugai, ikura, tamago, amabe

shiromaguro, hotate or uni

just so she’d stop, I answered, "Surprise me."

“What would you like?” she asked, beer or sake?

Mai tai, Singapore sling, margarita or whisky?

Chi-chi, sex on the beach, mudslide or midori?

Mimosa, gin tonic, cosmo or pink lady?

Manhattan, white Russian, orgasm or zombie?”

Just so she’d stop, I replied, "Surprise me."

Omigosh, her mixture was surprising to me

the drink she concocted was foamy and smoky

it tasted bitter sweet, so tart and so oaky

the cocktail was so strong it made me so woozy…

…she got home, I was waiting, she showered quickly.

As soon as she’s out, “What would you like?” she asked me…

...” 'round the world, *9, wheelbarrow or dog**?

Just so she’d start, I just said, “Surprise me”.

FLYING, FLOATING

It started getting very windy.

I faced the wind and jumped up until I was

off the ground and flying, floating.

It was a great feeling.

I was proud I could fly and people were looking at me.

I was the only one up in the air.

There were many people all around

and most of them were walking uphill and I was…

flying, floating 10 to 20 feet above the ground

facing opposite them while they are walking uphill.

I landed on the ground gently when I pointed

my feet downwards, then I would jump up again

against the wind and get lifted up again in the air

flying, floating with my arms stretched out.

It was a great exhilarating feeling...

Then I heard my doctor’s voice saying,

“Your triple coronary bypass surgery had been a success!

COFFINS

It was dusk and the weather could not be gloomier.

It was cold and there was a light shower

that portends heavy rains.

I was in the back seat of a black car

that had a male driver.

Two women in black dresses sat me between them.

They want to take me somewhere.

On the way to our destination the car

slowed down and parked in front of a place

but the driver did not shut off the engine.

I remained seated in the back seat

and one of the women got out of the car

and went inside the place.

Then I realized the place sells coffins

because there were different coffins

standing up against the walls.

It was then I said “I knew this is where we are going…”

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN

Married life is serious business

Our children need our care

Not much time for love and sex

So little time to share

And two of the children

Will start first grade next year

the youngest is still nursing

time with you is prized and dear

The minutes we spend together

are worth their weight in gold

Every moment spent with you

Are daring, brave and bold

And now it's time for us to end

This thrilling whirlwind date

You'll go back to your husband

I'll go home to my mate

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror: Poems (Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award Winner) (Penguin Poets) by John Ashbery

John Ashbery’s most renowned collection of poetry -- Winner of The Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award 

First released in 1975, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror is today regarded as one of the most important collections of poetry published in the last fifty years.  Not only in the title poem, which the critic John Russell  called “one of the finest long poems of our period,” but throughout the entire volume, Ashbery reaffirms the poetic power that made him an outstanding figure in contemporary literature.  These are poems “of breathtaking freshness and adventure in which dazzling orchestrations of language open up whole areas of consciousness no other American poet as ever begun to explore” (The New York Times).