I Must Be Living Twice: New and Selected Poems

by Eileen Myles

Overview

"Myles speaks with one of the essential voices in American poetry." —New York Times

A collection of new and selected past work from one of America’s most celebrated poets

Eileen Myles's poetry and prose are known for their blend of reality and fiction, the sublime and the ephemeral, in which readers can peer into existent places, like the East Village of Myles's iconic Chelsea Girls. But they are also lifted into dreams, through writing that has the vividness and energy of fantasy.

I Must Be Living Twice brings selections from the poet’s previous work together with a set of bold new poems, through which Myles continues to refine their sardonic, unapologetic, and fiercely intellectual literary voice. Steeped in the culture of New York City, Myles's stomping grounds and the home of their most well-known work, they provide a wide-open lens into radical life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062389091
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Eileen Myles (they/them, b. 1949) is a poet, novelist, and art journalist whose practice of vernacular first-person writing has made them one of the most recognized writers of their generation. Pathetic Literature, which they edited, came out in fall 2022. a “Working Life,” their newest collection of poems, is out now. They live in New York and Marfa, TX.

Table of Contents

New Poems

What Tree Am I Waiting 3

Summer 5

Prophesy 6

London Exchange 7

My Devil 10

Memory 13

That Rat's Death 14

The Irony of the Leash (1978)

Homebody 23

An Attitude About Poetry 24

Evening 25

Subscription 26

The Irony of the Leash 27

A Fresh Young Voice from the Plains (1981)

The Honey Bear 35

Along the Strand 36

Greece 40

Skuppy the Sailor Dog 41

Medium poem 42

Welsh Poetry 43

My Cheap Lifestyle 44

On the Death of Robert Lowell 45

Texas 46

Sappho's Boat (1982)

Joan 49

"Romantic Pain" 51

La Vita Nuova 56

Exploding the Spring Mystique 58

My Rampant Muse, for Her 61

Whax 'n Wayne 62

Yellow Tulips 67

New York Tulips 68

Lorna & Vicki 69

Not Me (1991)

A Poem 75

Edward the Confessor 78

Holes 82

April Noon 85

The Sadness of Leaving 86

Hot Night 89

And Then The Weather Arrives 97

November 99

New England Wind 101

Mad Pepper 102

The Sad Part Is 106

Triangles of Power 107

Peanut Butter 109

The Real Drive 113

Autumn in New York 117

Mai Maison 118

An American Poem 134

Maxfield Parrish (1995)

Maxfield Parrish 141

Bleeding Hearts 145

Sleepless 147

"I always put my pussy …" 150

SHHH 152

The Mirror Is My Mother 153

En Garde 155

PV 159

Looking Out, a Sailor 162

A Debate With A Glove 169

Late March 172

You 174

"No Poems" 176

Life 180

The Poet 183

School of Fish (1997)

School of Fish 187

Road Warrior 189

Last Supper 190

Merk 193

Porn Poems 198

Just God 199

Mr. Twenty 201

Aurora 205

Woo 207

Rotting Symbols 208

Sullivan's Brain 211

My War Is Love 215

Waterfall 218

Tonight 219

Story 221

No No 222

Skies (2001)

"Jonathan's …" 225

"The whole mess …" 227

My Wife Is Shopping 230

"Twenty years ago …" 232

Writing 234

"My mind's …" 236

The Center 237

Milk 240

And 242

Snakes 243

Infinity Mini 246

Mt. St. Helens 250

"I don't know …" 252

My Hat 253

Weather 255

Sympathy 256

Bone 258

The Guest 260

On My Way (2001)

Harmonica 271

Scribner's 273

Sorry, Tree (2007)

No Rewriting 279

For Jordana 285

Each Defeat 287

Unnamed New York 289

April 5 291

That Country 293

I'm moved 296

San Diego Poem 298

Cigarette girl 299

To Hell 301

Snowflake / Different Streets (2012)

Transitions 307

Snowflake 311

D.H. 314

Choke 315

Caesarean Toothbrush 317

"The cat is in …" 319

Your Name 320

Mitten 322

Hi 324

The Weather 326

Smile 329

The Perfect Faceless Fish 330

My Box 336

Epilogue

Anonymous 341

Twice (essay) 343

Acknowledgments 355

Editorial Reviews

Myles is a big deal, a rock star, sort of like the Patti Smith of contemporary poetry. . . . Myles is relentlessly casual, and even joyful. She has a good time journeying through Hell, and like a hip Virgil, she’s happy to show us the way.

NPR.org

Her work is hard to describe, best encountered on its own terms; suffice to say it combines frankness and beauty in a truly original way.

The Guardian

Read this, Eileen is epic!" — Kim Gordon

“Heroic, monolithic, pure.” — Alice Notely

“As lead adds luster to crystal, plain talk insures the strength and transparency of poetry. That would explain why this large selection of Eileen Myles’s poetry feels so breathtakingly engaging, like a gasp of fresh air in the turbulent urban environment she writes from. Once again, she shows how there's no substitute for telling it like it is.” — John Ashbery

“It is a rare thing when someone so cool is also so warm. Eileen Myles’s essential poetry is the hip kid leaning against their locker secretly burning with intensity, the smartest boy in the class who doesn’t care he has a scar down his face, the thing you just wish you’d said.” — Lena Dunham

“Myles is a big deal, a rock star, sort of like the Patti Smith of contemporary poetry. . . . Myles is relentlessly casual, and even joyful. She has a good time journeying through Hell, and like a hip Virgil, she’s happy to show us the way.” — NPR.org

“Myles has long been a steady presence on the New York poetry scene...With the publication of this new and selected volume, which covers her 40-year career, she has become the toast of the town and the poetry world at-large.” — Publishers Weekly

“Her work is hard to describe, best encountered on its own terms; suffice to say it combines frankness and beauty in a truly original way.” — The Guardian

From the Publisher