Poems And Poets That Will Touch Your Heart and Expand Your Thinking
In honor of National Poetry Month, we asked Persistent contributors to share their favorite poems.
This April marks the 30th anniversary of the first National Poetry Month. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month was created to bring more awareness and appreciation of poetry. And we need awareness, especially in our fast-paced, technology-obsessed culture, where the idea of reading poetry can feel almost quaint.
You can’t skim a poem or even read it fast. To appreciate it, to savor the language and meaning, you need to take a moment to slow down and look more closely at the world and the people who inhabit it. You need to pay attention. And there’s nothing quaint about that.
From Rumi’s famous plea to meet in a field beyond right and wrong to Andrea Gibson’s moving declaration of self-love, here are some poems and poets The Persistent contributors think are worth paying attention to.
The feminist poet Andrea Gibson died last year from ovarian cancer at age 49. But her poem Boomerang Valentine is like a magic trick. I don’t want to give it away, but remember these lines: “When it comes to love, the only thing I’m certain of is: you are the best thing that has ever happened to you.”
Watch her read it and rejoice! PS–And don’t miss the Academy Award nominated documentary about Gibson’s life: Come See Me In the Good Light.
— Deanna Kizis, contributing writer
Back in grade school, I used to love writing poetry–haiku, rhyming, non-rhyming…the poems poured out of me. And then, self consciousness set in and the poetry kind of dried up. But when I got married later in life, at age 48, my husband-to-be and I agreed that the event called for… poetry. We each selected a verse from a slim, pink paperback entitled Pablo Neruda’s Love Poems. Mine was called Your Feet. That may not sound very romantic, but I love the last few lines especially:
“But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.”
– Paula Derrow, features editor
Late Fragment by Raymond Carver has always been my favorite poem and will probably remain so until my dying day. In just 30 words it expresses, so succinctly, our basic human desire for love while we're here.
— Deborah Copaken, contributing writer
I discovered the contemporary poet Kim Addonizio in a creative writing class in college decades ago. Her work is deeply evocative, emotional, and gritty. Start with the poem Solace from her latest collection Exit Opera. These lines give me hope when I’m feeling uninspired.
“Art sometimes can enter through a sliver.
Give it a broken fence, it will trellis over.”
– Kathleen Davis, executive editor
I love Rumi's poem Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, which, so briefly, captures a world “...too full to talk about….” one that “doesn’t make any sense.” It’s so appropriate for the times we are living in and all that we are dealing with. If you let go of judgment and ego, you can meet people in a place of understanding, peace, and real connection.
– Kati Hynes, finance
Verandah Porche is a Vermont poet who I have known since I was a teenager. Her poetry is the bar that I set whenever I hear or read a poem. She always gets down to the nitty gritty.
— Kim Murton, Illustrator
Is there a poem that inspires you? Send your recommendations to hello@thepersistent.com. We’ll be back with more recommendations next Friday!
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