Poetry Los Angeles: Reading the Essential Poems of the City

Contents

Contents Preface xi Introduction Thomas McGrath, Suzanne Lummis, James Harms 1 1. The Pacific Ocean of the Poets Robinson Jeffers, Mark Jarman, Derek Walcott, Lawrence Lipton, Eleni Sikelianos, Lewis MacAdams, Charles Wright, Susan Suntree 28 2. Hollywood, “Here” and Everywhere Karl Shapiro, Bertolt Brecht, Vachel Lindsay, Randall Jarrell, Robert Hass, Wanda Coleman, David Wojahn, Frederick Seidel 64 3. How Good, or Bad, Is Charles Bukowski’s Poetry? 100 4. On the Freeway: Moving Fast and Standing Still Frank Bidart, Eloise Klein Healy, Wanda Coleman, James Schevill, Ron Koertge, Carol Muske-­ Dukes, Miroslav Holub, Allen Ginsberg, Mary Armstrong, James Harms, Dana Goodyear, Dana Gioia, Diane Wakoski 121 5. South Central: The Lofty Towers and the Plains of Id Elizabeth Alexander, Michèlle T. Clinton, Wanda Coleman, Jack Hirschman, Samuel Maio, Ice Cube, Harryette Mullen 161 6. Californios, and the Fertile Blood of Poetry Lorna Dee Cervantes, Curtis Zahn, Gina Valdés, Gary Soto, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Richard Garcia, Aleida Rodríguez 192 7. Interiors: Kinds of Sanctuary Victoria Chang, Garrett Hongo, Denis Johnson, Quincey Troupe, Charles Gullans, Paul Monette, Carol Muske-­Dukes 224 8. Exteriors: Signs of the Endtime David Trinidad, Timothy Steele, Henri Coulette, Charles Harper Webb, Dorothy Barresi, Joy Harjo 253 9. Conclusion Nik De Dominic, Patty Seyburn, Dana Gioia 284 10. Twenty More Poems About Los Angeles 300 Notes 303 Selected Bibliography 333 Acknowledgments 343 Index 349 ...