ever read this book?

Talking in the dark it a really good poetry Billy Merrell is a beautiful poet. His poems are really unique do you guys have any fav books or poets?

You should check it our

Talking in the dark

By: Billy Merrell

Here is a suggested reading list from myself of poets and books on writing poetry, and just some influential books that don't really have much to do with poetry, but important nonetheless, etc.Though many write poetry , few bother reading poetry-this is important as it adds perspective, knowledge and insight.

Write On!

Gary Jurechka

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RECOMMENDED READING

Below is a recommended reading list.This is just a starting point, you may discover others along the way.I have listed both Poets and books that could be considered reference/self-help/type books(some of these deal with understanding poetry, some are exercises and workshop-type stuff, etc.).I know for the most part, more poets like to write poetry rather than read any.Sometimes it is a matter of finding a poet who's work you like.But reading other poetry can bring a better understanding and appreciation of the art and can also influence and improve your own writing skills.Even reading the small press poets on the e-zines and small press poetry zines(paper published ones) is beneficial.The anybody-can-post-anything sites are not very disciminating and have both have some really great poems but mostly some really bad ones -but checking these out can help you see the difference.I've tried to include a wide diversity of styles/forms/voices/ poets both past and contemporary-included are the known masters, contemporary poets,academic poets, street poets, rock/music stars, actors,(surprisingly a couple by the musicians and actors are very good), small press poets, etc..There is something for everyone here if you explore and seek out what interests you.All practicing poets should read poetry, past and present, all the varieties/styles/voices.

Poets(and some of the books):

Oscar Williams(edited by)-Immortal Poems (a good collection of many poets)
William Harmon(edited by)-The Top 500 Poems (another good collection of a variety of poets)
The Best American Poetry Of (year)-an anthology collection put out each year of the more contemporary poets(as opposed to the well known, long dead masters)
Jim Carroll (Fear Of Dreaming*Pools Of Mercury*The Basketball Diaries)
Edgar Allan Poe (Complete Poems)
Billy Collins (Nine Horses*Sailing Alone Around The Room)
Anne Sexton (The Complete Poems)
Henry David Thoreau
Michael Madsen (The Complete Poetic Works Of:Vol. I:1995-2005)
Allen Ginsberg
Jewel (A Night Without Armor)
Carl Sandburg
Rod McKuen (Alone*Caught In The Quiet*The Works Of Vol. 1*many others)
Ogden Nash
Walt Whitman (Selected Poems)
Charles Bukowski
Emily Dickinson (Selected Poems)
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Tupac Shakur (The Rose That Grew From Concrete)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Lord (George Gordon) Byron
Robert Browning
Leonard Cohen (Stranger Music*and others)
William Blake
Mark Van Doren (That Shining Place)
David Berman (Actual Air)
Ezra Pound
Robert Frost (Anthology Of Poems)
Langston Hughes
E.E. Cummings (100 Selected Poems)
Sylvia Plath
Jim Morrison (Wilderness*American Night*The Lords And The New Creatures)
William Shakespeare
Dylan Thomas
Richard Brautigan
Federico Garcia Lorca (Selected Poems Of (translated))
Gwendolyn Brooks
Shel Silverstein (Where The Sidewalk Ends* and others)
Robert Pinsky
Erica Jong (At The Edge Of The Body, others)
John Keats
Henry Rollins (believe he has a book, know he has some spoken word cds)
William Carlos Williams
Douglas Pagels-(I Love You Sooo Much(ABook For My Soul Mate And A Thank You From My Heart))
A.E. Housman
Edward Field(edited by)-(A Geography Of Poets:An Anthology Of The New Poetry)
Oscar Wilde
Stevie Smith
Billy Corgan (Blinking With Fists)
T.S. Eliot
William Butler Yeats
Mark Strand
Mary D. Esselman & Elizabeth Ash Velez (edited by)-(The Hell With Love:Poems To Mend A Broken Heart (actually this could go in the reference/self help section!))
Lawrence Ferlenghetti
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Dave Kappel & Sally Steenland-(The Magnetic Poetry:Book Of Poetry)
Robert Burns
Alexander Pope
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Robert Bly
John Sweet(google search for his chaps on the internet)

Reference or poetry related:

Dictionary(a very good one!-sometimes I get inspired by new words & such))
Thesaurus(again, a good one)
John Frederick Nims-Western Wind:An Introduction To Poetry
William Packard-The Art Of Poetry Writing
Rainer Maria Rilke-Letters To A Young Poet
Bill Moyers-Fooling With Words
Robin Behn and Chase Twichell(editors)-The Practice Of Poetry
Judsom Jerome-The Poet's Handbook
Constance Hale-Sin And Syntax
Natalie Goldberg-Writing Down The Bones(Freeing The Writer Within)
John Ciardi-How Does A Poem Mean
Brenda Ueland-If You Want To Write
Ron Padgett(edited by)-The Teacher's And Writer's Handbook Of Poetic Forms
William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White-The Elements Of Style
Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge-Poemcrazy(Freeing Your Life With Words)
The Poet's Market-the current edition (put out each year by Writer's Digest Books-This is essential regarding markets and also has other information, interviews with poets, etc.)
Theodore A. Rees Cheney-Getting The Words Right:How to Revise, Edit, & Rewrite
Leonard Knott-Writing For The Joy Of It

These are not so much poetry related but very profound,inspirational and life enriching, influential writing, sometimes verging on poetry-highly recommended)

Hugh Prather- Notes To Myself*I Touch The Earth, The Earth Touches Me
Richard Bach- Illusions (this book changed my life!)*Jonathon Livingston Seagull
Douglas Coupland- Generation X
Robert Cormier-Fade
Peter Hedges- What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Richard Adams- Watership Down
Nick Hornsby- High Fidelity
J.R.R. Tolkein-The Lord Of The Rings
Carson McCullers- The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
Kurt Vonnegut-anything
David Viscott- Finding Your Strength In Difficult Times(A Book Of Meditations)
S.E. Hinton-The Outsiders*That Was Then, This Is Now
Bret Easton Ellis-Less Than Zero

Most important and influential to me are the lyrics of musicians, which are poetry unto themselves.My influensces include the lyrics of

Michael Stipe (of R.E.M.) ,
Fish(Derek William Dick) (of the band Marillion/solo, -my main influence)
Snow Patrol,
Dave Matthews (of The Dave Matthews Band)
Patti Smith,
David Gray,
Joan Baez,
Paul Simon (& Garfunkel),
Tupac Shakur,
Joni Mitchell,
Adam Duritz (of Counting Crows),
Bob Dylan,
Radiohead,
Jim Morrison (of the Doors),
The Stone Roses,
Doves,
Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana)
Liz Phair,
Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails),
Coldplay,
Roger Waters & David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd)
Straylight Run
James Maynard Keenan (of A Perfect Circle/Tool)
David Byrne(of Talking Heads),
and many others.

Love, Peace. Poetry, Power!

Gary Jurechka

GEJ1964@hotmail.com