Waterways
Poetry in the Mainstream
30 Years of Publication
1979 - 2009

During the summer and autumn of 1979, the Waterways Project staged nine outdoor exhibits and readings by poetry publishers.   A cohort of twenty five New York State poetry presses participated.  Each event, held along the waterfront, was documented by a publication that included one poem submitted by each of the participating publishers.

In 2009-10 themes are lines excerpted from poems the NYS Waterways Project published in 1979. 

Number 1
They may be initially unpleasant,
But people school themselves to like them.
Analogy and Metaphor – Pat Fillingham
South Street Seaport July 4, 1979
Cover image of carrot and turnip link to volume 30 number 1
Number 2
I really like that kind of bridge
Because the trains go over it.
Manhattan Bridge – A. Thomas Perry
Pier 13 Staten Island, July 21, 1979
Cover image of bridge link to volume 30 number 2
Number 3
We unscrewed.
We rescrewed
Free Enterprise And The American Way - Barbara Fisher
Pier 84 at West 44th Street Manhattan, July 29, 1979
Cover image of hardware link to volume 30 number 3
Number 4
Why night after night do I
attempt this poem?
Higgins Again – Donald Lev
Pier at 44th Drive, Long Island City, August 12, 1979
Cover image of papers and manuscripts link to volume 30 number 4
Number 5
it is the business
of the poet to take risks.
Richard Spiegel
North River Bulkhead, Greenwich Village, August 19, 1979
Cover image closeup of keys link to volume 30 number 5
Number 6
She turns over in bed,
Her hair gets in my mouth.
Margie – Richard Davidson
Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, August 25 & 26, 1979
cover image of statue resembling a starfish link to volume 30 number 6
Number 7
We shall wander gingerly
down the stairs and sit
in the corner by the platform
which awaits our turns.
You Will Always Be There – Barbara A. Holland
Hudson Heritage Festival at Kingston,  September 8 & 9, 1979.
Cover image of staircase link to volume 30 number 7
Number 8
it is too expensive for you
to live in your own home
Your Friendly Local Watchdog Has Found – Robert R. Fox
At the first New York Is Book Country - a poetry reading was held
in front of the Museum Of Modern Art on West 53rd St. Sept. 16, 1979
Cover image of chinchilla in its habitat link to volume 30 number 8
Number 9
“A gallery is just a store that sells paintings,” she said.
“No No,” I said.
Anger Lesson – Hal Sirowitz
An ongoing poetry workshop -- NY Poetry Festival at St. Clements.
Cover abstract of pointilist art link to volume 30 number 9
Number 10
I sing to you across fields of maize
Your grandmother cultivated before your birth
I Sing To You Across Fields Of Maize – Virginia Scott
  Cover image eyes of a 90 year old woman link to volume 30 number 10
Number 11
Joan of Arc slumped in the fetal position at
the stake; the roar of burning embers and smoke
at one with the miraculous forest voices at the end.
Beyond Mortal Limit & Time – Sidney Bernard
As part of the NYC Countdown to the 1980 Winter Olympics,
Waterways held an event at Loeb Student Center on December 13, 1979.
cover image of driftwood sculpture link to volume 30 number 11
The New York State poetry presses participating in the first year of Waterways’ poery book fairs were American Book Review, A Shout in the Street, Bramwell-Marsh, Brooklyn Ferry Poets,  Contact II, Cross-Cultural Communications, Full Track Press, Glassworks, Greenfield Review, Helen Review, Home Planet News, Ithaca House, Nambati Press, New Scribes, Nok, Poetry in Public Places, Red Dust, Shamal Books, Strawberry Press, Sunbury Press, Swamp Press, SZ Press, Ten Penny Players, The Smith, 13th Moon, and Tiresias Press. 

Poets who read at the Waterways Project book fairs in 1979 Waterways included Louis Reyes Rivera, Dan Stokes, Dorothy Friedman, Carol Polcovar, Maurice Kenny, Stanley Barkan, Suzanne Ostro Zavrian, Janet Bloom, Elizabeth Marraffino, Ellen Marie Bissert, Rose Sher, Emilie Glen, Enid Dame, Joel Zeltzer, Magdalena Gomez, Betty Bressi, Ed Hack, Sita Kapadia, Laura Drew, Daryl Perry, Armand Schwerner, Sharon Huele, Bill Marsh, Jay McDonnell, Daryl Chin, Rose Lesniak, Pedro Pietri, Sharon Mattlin, Bob Holman, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Brenda Connor-Bey, Zoe Anglesly, Ellen Aug, Barbara Holland, Patricia Kelly, Guy Beining, Matthew Laufer, Conciere Taylor, Mia Barkan, Murat Nemet-Nejat, James Morris, R. C. Morse, Chuck Nechtem, Jeff Wright, Shelley Messing, Rochelle Ratner, Susan Kronenberg, Louise Jaffe, Gwen Whitehead, Lucy Angeleri, Ron Welburn, David Gershator, Harry Smith, Dennis Nurkse, Henry Rasof, Lester Afflick, Teriananda, Lucille Paisner, Phyllis Stern, Nancy duPlessis, Iris Berman, Hal Sirowitz, Mary Lou DiPietro, Hilda Morley, France Burke, Zizwe Ngafua, Sandra Maria Esteves, Madeline Tiger, David Ferguson, Edmund Pennant, Philip Schultz, Patricia Aguasvivas, Marilyn Mohr, Mikhail Horowitz, Ilka Scobie, and George Montgomery.

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