Notley and Mayer. I must discuss them together, since I like them for the same set of reasons. They take "New York School" poetry in a different direction, make it something new. Mayer's "Midwinter Day" is a great experiment in writing and living at the same time. I cannot figure out how she did it, without even "room of her own" so to speak. Alice Notley's "Disobedience" puts me in a similar frame of mind: reading this poetry I start to note an improvement in the quality and recall of my dreams. I am not saying these writers are interchangeable, simply that I read them for the same end. So I was pleased to be reading Bernadette's poetry and find references to Alice. Both are poets I have to read more of. I loved Mysteries of Small Houses and the selected Poems, but I'm sure I've missed a lot along the way. The same with Bernadette, whose "Bernadette Mayer Reader" is a good place to start.

Who next? I think I need to deal with the 4 first generation New York poets, in whatever order they suggest themselves to me.