Out of Print

Julien Poirier has taught poetry in the New York City and San Francisco public schools and at San Quentin State Prison, and was a founding member of the Ugly Duckling Presse Collective. Previous books include Way Too West (Bootstrap Press 2015), Stained Glass Windows of California (Ugly Duckling Presse 2012), El Golpe Chileno (Ugly Duckling Presse 2010), and the newspaper novel, Living! Go and Dream (Ugly Duckling Presse 2005). For Ugly Duckling, he has edited such volumes as Jack Micheline's One of a Kind (2008), Steve Dalachinsky's In Glorious Black & White (2005), and two editions of Cedar Sigo's Selected Writings (2003, 2005), as well as co-editing the periodicals 6x6 and New York Nights. With Garrett Caples, he is the co-editor of Frank Lima's Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems (City Lights 2015).

• OPENING POEM17 REASONS WHYAVERAGE PAST“Dear reader”BACK ON ROOSTERPOEM (“I used to be the biggest leftist”)THE 2ND AMENDMENT NEVER SLEEPS (2 pages)PEPPER’S GHOSTENTROPY REX (3 pages)SHIMMERING LUCIFERSSTAGE 4 LUNG CANCER WON’T WAITSHOWDOWN WITH DEATHTHE BABOON IS EATING STRAWBERRIESGREAT ESCAPES IN NEW YORK CITY (3 pages)INVESTIGATIONWINNEMUCCA (2 pages)FOUR FAILED REVOLUTIONS (2 pages)“When I was growing up in America”ORCHESTRE DE PARISLOUIS ARMSTRONGTHE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE (AN EPISODE)THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING (3 pages)DRUNKARD’S ALMANACEXISTENTIALIST SPAGARDENS & AIRPLANESTHE COMMODITY SINGS TO ITS BELOVED (2 pages)HEAVY LOSSES, BOSS (3 pages)EGYPTIAN BOWLING TROPHYSHADES OF THE GENIE GENRETAMERLANEMISSISSIPPI JOHN HURTSHUT EYEEXIT SIGNS BURNTHERE’S LOVE AND THEN THERE’S LOVE (2 pages)ZERO WITH A THOUSAND ACES (2 pages)INDEPENDENTLY BLUERABBITS AND CANARIES (2 pages)LONG LIVE (2 pages)CAPE CODEMOVE ONINNER OAFMY SKELETONPIERRE DE RONSARDTHE PERFECT MANTHE RED CAPSMOUCHE VERTE MORTEGREEN BOTTLE FLYLOUIS ARMSTRONG INTERNATIONALBERKELEY VOICE NOTES (3 pages)IF YOU’RE READING THISREAL-LIFE ADVENTURETHIS IS THE LIFESILVER TO SILVER

Poirier's poems have an attentiveness and intimacy and wonder that address all of us who naturally expect a poet to speak to us, but are astonished to discover that he also hears us and gives us a voice. What better reason to read Poirier, as his poems need us as much as we need them."-Benjamin Hollander, Boston Review "In Poirier's universe, the world is a stale baguette with goldfish caviar and moldy matchtips. Call it what you want. He hangs out behind the Kum and Go with Bob Kaufman, Bernadette Mayer, Richard Brautigan, and Henri Michaux and eats it."--BOMB Magazine "Never bound to a single or elitist aesthetic, the poetry's there for any one of us to inhabit. ... Like [John] Wieners, Julien avoids the pitfalls of literary self-importance, keeping his focus on building poems that liberate the reader momentarily, while never presuming to have a set solution. The poem is a problem the poet and reader confront for the sake of beauty."--Guillermo Parra