Four Books You Should Read For National Poetry Month If You've Never Read Poetry Before
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April is National Poetry Month!
Among other things April is National Poetry Month, and this year we need it more than ever. When my head is spinning from the news, and I feel like I can’t think after a long day of working, teaching, foraging for food that no one likes anyway, and generally acting as my family’s Corona Cruise Director I may not be able to curl up with a book, but I can always manage a poem. Poems have been my balm and my escape this month.
I’m not a natural born poetry reader. I only started a year or two ago when a book of poems was on some book challenge list I was trying to complete. Thank goodness for book challenges!
If you’d like to start reading poetry, but aren’t sure where to start try these five:
(Just a note- I usually don’t concern myself with how you get your books. I provide amazon links for information, knowing that very few people will ever buy on that site. (But I am very grateful when you do. Those little payments go towards paying fr my domain each year.) Because of the circumstances I did provide a little more information than usual about where you can get these books.)
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur - These are poems about heartbreak and love. They’re lovely and relatable. (This is available for free on Kindle Unlimited)
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost - Most people have read poems by Robert Frost, but his genius goes way beyond The Road Not Taken. My favorite is Gathering Leaves, a celebration of a bountiful but mostly useless crop. The version I linked to is an old book from a relative’s college class, but there are many other versions available.
the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace - Poems about fairy tales meets real life. So, so relatable and emotional. This one is only $.99 on Kindle right now.
Devotions by Mary Oliver - I’ve been reading a few of these poems each night before bed, and I think they’re perfect for this time of shrinking worlds. No, you can’t go on vacation, but there’s a whole world in the birds and trees right in your backyard. Devotions is a anthology of her best works, and a great introduction if you’ve never read Oliver before. I got this one from Libby trough my library.
Hang in there my friends!
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