Category: National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month #29 – Billy Collins
Billy Collins reads four poems.
National Poetry Month #27 – Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton reads her poem “Ambition Bird.” What do you think?
National Poetry Month #26 – More Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s poem “The Bells:”
National Poetry Month #25 Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich reads her poem “Dedication.”
National Poetry Month #22 – for Earth Day
A reading of John Keats’ “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket”
National Poetry Month #21 – Poet A.J. Ludwig, rap artist MacLethal
Some of the purest poetry I’ve ever heard.
National Poetry Month #20 – W.S. Mervin
Prolific poet W.S. Mervin reads his poem “Yesterday.” Sometimes poetry touches on painful subjects.
National Poetry Month #19 -“Monday” – Billy Collins
Because it’s Monday:
National Poetry Month #18 – Jane Hirshfield
Jane Hirshfield reads her poem “For What Binds Us.”
National Poetry Month #17 Amanda Gorman
National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman reads her topical and hope-filled poem “The Miracle of Morning.”
National Poetry Month #16 – Galway Kinnell
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.
National Poetry Month #15 – The Bard
Here’s a twofer – Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet twice. First up is a lovely intro and reading by Sir Patrick Stewart; then scroll down to hear Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour sing the sonnet, which I’m sharing because of my love of Pink Floyd.
National Poetry Month #14 – Edgar Allan Poe
A reading of Poe’s “The Raven,” by actor Basil Rathbone.
National Poetry Month #13 – Detroit’s Philip Levine
Detroit native and former Poet Laureate, the late Philip Levine reads his poem “Belle Isle, 1949.”
National Poetry Month #12 – Stanley Kunitz
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.
National Poetry Month #11 – Robert Frost
Robert Frost reads his poem “The Road Not Taken.”