A review of a poetry collection by legendary poet A. D. Winans

A.D. Winans Greatest Hits. 1995 to 2003. (Pudding House Publications 81 Shadymere Lane Columbus, Ohio 43213) $9. info.puddinghouse.com www.puddinghouse.com reviewed by Doug Holder Hey, you reach a certain stage or age (in Winans case it's 67), you deserve a Greatest Hits Collection. The folks at Pudding House Publications write: " Music lovers have purchased Greatest Hits from the music industry for decades and now Pudding House brings you hits from some of the hottest poets across the contemporary American literary landscape. The poems most often requested for reprint or performance, pieces remembered by fans, and groupies. Yes poets have groupies too!" I suppose A. D. Winans has groupies, considering he has had 35 books and chapbooks published, and he has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and anthologies. A son of San Francisco, he has known and worked with the likes of Spicer, Micheline, and Bukowski. He started his own notable small press SECOND COMING. He served three times on the board of directors for COSMEP, a seminal small press organization. Having established his credentials, Pudding House presents the man's poetry. Winans describes himself as a "peoples poet." He writes: "My poems and my life are one and the same. They simply can't be separated." In this collection, the signature Winans themes are represented: San Francisco streets, his family, his memories of his armed service years in Panama, his love of Jazz, the blue collar man, the prison, the system, etc... In the poem SAN FRANCISCO STREET Winans displays a gimlet reporter's eye for the city he loves: "I've walked these San Francisco streets/ like a crime photographer walks his beat/ my eyes taking in every movement/ my brain recording images real and imagined/ In sixty years her changes have not eluded me..." In POEM FOR THE WORKINGMAN AND THE YUPPIE Winans sticks it to the posturing, navel-gazing professional poet, in favor of the working-stiff. He reminds the reader to remember: " ...that every meat packer and fisherman/knows more about life than/ your average poet/ the blind man rattling an empty cup/ makes more noise than/ a Yuppie gunning/ his BMW/ on his way to the/ Graveyard./ I hear you...A.D. Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson Street Press in Somerville, Mass. homepage.mac.com/rconte. He is currently the Arts/Editor for the Somerville News, and the Boston Editor for Poesy Magazine. He was the recipient of the Lucid Moon Poetry Award 2003. dougholder.post.harvard.edu Contact author for reprint