Ten Poems Like Me

Ok--some of the other poets are listing ten poems that would serve as an introduction of themselves to the world. Already I'm confused--is the idea to list ten favorite poems, or ten poems that, for whatever reason, are like you in some way. I'm going to try to make a list of the latter, with the understanding that the poems on the list would fluctuate day to day, depending on mood, outlook, etc.


So here are poems that seem to fit me today, in no particular order.

Robert Burns: "To a Mouse"
Francois Villon: "In this Whorehouse where We Hold Our State" (An untitled ballade from The Testament translated by Galway Kinnell.
James Wright: "As I Step over a Puddle at the End of Winter, I Think of the Ancient Chinese Governor"
Barbara Hamby: Any one of her odes, esp. from her new book Babel
Elizabeth Bishop: "Under the Window: Ouro Peurto"
Li Po: Drinking with the Moon (?) Not sure of translator--it's from the Norton World Lit--I think it could be Arthur Waley.
Andrew Hudgins: "Praying Drunk"
Gwendolyn Brooks: "We Real Cool"
Ai: "The Cockfighter's Daughter"
e. e. cummings: "Buffalo Bill's"

I have no idea how these poems are connected. Either they make me snicker, or shiver, or both.