Third Rail The Poetry of Rock and Roll

"The poets who fill these pages have come to testify, to bear witness to the mysterious power of Rock and Roll.-- from the Foreword by Bono"The thread or the themeThat holds this tuneTogether is the sameOne that rips it open...."-- fromGimme Shelterby Bill Knott"Chunky on the shag rug, I'm looking for my anthem, I'm looking for my headphones, I'm looking for the bare spot on the rug to wallow, side-stepped on the chair-stopped door. I blast my ears out."-- fromThe Prophet's Songby Daniel Nester"Drums,Whatta lotta Noise you want a Revolution?Wanna Apocalypse? Blow up in Dynamite Sound?"-- fromPunk Rock You're My Big Crybabyby Allen GinsbergAs revolutionary as the music it celebrates, the poetry in this electrifyinganthology -- by poets such as Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Paul Muldoon and Philip Larkin -- turns rock upside down with indelible images and powerful expressions of the music that changed our lives.

Jonathan Wells was the Director of Rolling Stone Press, the book publishing division of Rolling Stone magazine. He is a widely published poet and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.