Category: National Poetry Month

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month of poetry. Let’s end as we began. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo speaks for the better part of an hour, including a song on her flute. What do you think of Joy Harjo’s recitation contrasted with Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath? My cat Bella was … Continue ReadingNational Poetry Month – The Last Post.

Billy Collins reads four poems.

“The Applicant,” read by the poet. While I love the reading, I can’t reconcile the angry Hamptons voice with the lost child face; based on the comments on this video (on YouTube), I seem to stand alone. She was just over 30 when she taped off her kitchen to protect … Continue ReadingNational Poetry Month #28 – At Last, Sylvia Plath

Anne Sexton reads her poem “Ambition Bird.” What do you think?

Poe’s poem “The Bells:”

Adrienne Rich reads her poem “Dedication.”

The poem Desiderata, written nearly a century ago, gained popularity in the 1960’s and 70’s. The words of the poem were ubiquitous when I was in my early teens; I remember seeing them on posters everywhere. I think I bought one of those posters. The words spoke to my angst-filled, … Continue ReadingNational Poetry Month #24 – Max Ehrmann

Poet e.e. cummings reads his poem “i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart).” I’m sharing this poem as an homage to my high school A.P. English teacher, who first introduced me to cummings – but even so, I think if cummings recited this poem to … Continue ReadingNational Poetry Month #23 – e.e. cummings

A reading of John Keats’ “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket”

Prolific poet W.S. Mervin reads his poem “Yesterday.” Sometimes poetry touches on painful subjects.

Because it’s Monday:

Jane Hirshfield reads her poem “For What Binds Us.”

National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman reads her topical and hope-filled poem “The Miracle of Morning.”

The late Galway Kinnell, who was a Vermont Poet Laureate and a National Book Award Winner, reads his poem “Wait” in this 1986 video. Although the poem is inspired by his student who was contemplating suicide, the poem speaks to all of us who are tired.

Two-time Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz reads his visceral poem “The Portrait.” I haven’t read much of his work before, but you can bet I will now.

Robert Frost reads his poem “The Road Not Taken.”