Just before the West Chester Conference interrupted everything, I started what I promised to be a series of posts on poems by the School of Phlogiston's boogieman, Dana Gioia, and Steven Schroeder posted a call for Poetry Mix Tapes: 10 poems under about 150 lines chosen to introduce a smart newbie to the enjoyment of poetry. I'll get to Gioia, about a poem a month, I think, but I'd really like to see what other bloggers do with Steven's idea — there were several responses in comments and more at the New Poetry mail list, but I missed any blog-responses. Probably due to West Chester. Which also gave me the nasty cold I'm suffering right now.
Anywho, you'd surely give a new flirting partner a different poetry mix tape than you'd give to a co-worker or a new in-law, and for each of them it would be different depending on sex, profession, age, moodiness, politics, and so on. Since I'm an old married fart writing software for the Navy, here's a mix tape of living poets I might give to a 40ish (that's +- 10 years) techie with some rural background who'd never think of kissing me but isn't hung up on sex roles:
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R. S. Gwynn, from No Word of Farewell: "At Rose's Range"
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Kim Addonizio, from Tell Me: "Last Call"
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Ted Kooser, from Flying at Night, "Selecting a Reader"
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John Hollander, from Town & Country Matters, Sonnet 3 of "Sonnets for Roseblush"
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Timothy Murphy, from The Deed of Gift, "Eighty-eight at Midnight"
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David Yezzi, from The Hidden Model, "Upon Julia's Breasts" [audio link]
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Jenny Factor, from Unraveling at the Name, "Swing Time" [scroll a little]
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Frederick Turner, from Paradise: Selected Poems 1990-2003, "Engineers"
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Richard Wilbur, from Collected Poems 1943-2004, "Blackberries for Amelia"
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Marisa de los Santos, from From the Bones Out, "Women Watching Basketball" [scroll a little]
2:18:10 PM 
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