Lists!

I can't even begin to say what an insane couple of weeks it has been at my new job. I never intended to come to work under gunfire and secret leases. Whoa boy. More to come later on that front.

For now, a little repartee from Oscar and I on our influences. I liked his list. Let's see how mine stacks up:

Books of Poetry that Have Influenced My Poetry (in no particular order)
1. Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, Miguel Algarín and Bob Holman, eds.
2. School of the Arts, Mark Doty
3. Collected Poems, Elizabeth Bishop
4. Book of My Nights, Li-Young Lee
5. Imagine the Angels of Bread, Martin Espada
6. E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962, George J. Firmage, ed.
7. The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde, Audre Lorde
8. Smoking Lovely, Willie Perdomo
9. 51st Dream State (Theater Production), poetry by Sekou Sundiata
10. Pleasure Dome and Theives of Paradise, Yusef Komunyakaa
11. Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman

To Understand My Writing, Understand These Books (in no particular order)
1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
2. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
3. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed The World, Margaret MacMillan and Richard Holbrooke
4. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, Chalmers Johnson
5. Miles: An Autobiography, Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe
6. Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad, ed.
7. Puerto Rican Obituary, Pedro Pietri
8. Animal Farm, George Orwell
9. Some of Us Did Not Die, June Jordan
10. Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos, Jack Agueros, ed.


To Further Understand My Writing, Get Your Hands On These Recordings
1. "Aguanile," "Que Bien Te Ves," "Periodico de Ayer,"and "El Cantante,"
Hector Lavoe (any example from Fania Records)
2. "Folk Forms No. 1," from Mingus on Mingus
3. "Blue in Green," from Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
4. "Corcovado," Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto
5. "Holla If Ya Hear Me," Tupac Shakur
6. "Acid," Ray Barretto