A LOOSE CANON
Maverick believes more in maverick art than in maverick artists. More in maverick poems than in maverick poets. That is, Maverick believes in the maverick impulse. The impulse that draws one away from the herd and leads to a new, independent, original stand. Such impulse is virtually insustainable in the main, and thus, even in those artists who devote their entire lives to relentlessly courting their respective muses, truly maverick moments are the exception, not the rule. The poet Robert Lowell felt that writers were lucky if, in the course of their lives, they'd written one truly great and memorable stanza, or a few great and memorable lines, much less an entire poem. To say nothing of an entire opus. Maverick is dedicated to the discovery and display of those most rare and vital moments, those poems that resonate soundly with the rich, original and visionary imagery, language and content that is the maverick impulse; the best and most important vein of the American poetic tradition.
Following is a list of poets and poems that Maverick holds to be shining examples of the very best impulse in American Poetry; the maverick impulse. The impulse that leads away from the herd to new vistas of originality. The list focuses on individual poems (and sometimes even stanzas and/or lines within poems), and is continually evolving, so any comments, or cries for addition or deletion should be sent to:
Modern Mavericks:
Emily Dickinson Ezra Pound Wallace Stevens
Robert Frost Hart Crane Langston Hughes
Delmore Schwartz Dylan Thomas William Carlos Williams
James Wright John Berryman Sylvia Plath
Anne Sexton Alan Dugan Elizabeth Bishop
Allen Ginsberg Jack Kerouac Kenneth Patchen
Contempory Mavericks:
Bill Knott
Laura Jensen
Denis Johnson
Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge
Ai
Norman Dubie
Jerome Rothenberg
Jack Gilbert
Jean Valentine
Gary Snyder
Emerging Mavericks:
Ramón E. Martinez
Tracy Trefethen
Albino Carrillo
Daniel Conner Wood
Carl Phillips
Henry Quintero
Laura Johnson
To be continued...