BOOKSTHAT / LIST NO. 6745

Books that
Fill Us With Poetry

Rhyme, meter, and human necessities.

FILE UNDER

POETRY & DRAMA
LITERATURE

01 / 39

Howl and Other Poems

Allen Ginsberg

“It is the poet, Allen Ginsberg, who has gone, in his own body, through the horrifying experiences described from life in these pages.”
William Carlos WilliamsPublished endorsement

02 / 39

Bluff

Danez Smith

“Smith’s searing fourth collection (after Homie) offers a powerful self-indictment of art and the artist in an age of social and political collapse.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)Review excerpt

03 / 39

Customs

Solmaz Sharif

“As she masterfully traverses the landscape of exile and all its complicated grief, Sharif manages, with conviction and consistency, to make the reader feel welcome.”
Jessica Gigot, New York Times Book ReviewReview excerpt

04 / 39

A History of My Brief Body

Billy-Ray Belcourt

“A History of My Brief Body is a complex, nuanced, and stunningly written collection.”
Liam Anthony, Independent Book ReviewReview excerpt

05 / 39

At the Gate

Lucille Clifton, Kazim Ali

06 / 39

Poems for the End of the World

Suzi Q Smith

07 / 39

The Black Romantic Revolution

Matt Sandler

Matt Sandler examines how Black abolitionist poets adapted Romantic literary forms to imagine emancipation and address slavery, capitalism, and imperialism.

Synopsis

08 / 39

She

Saul Williams

Saul Williams presents a collection of interconnected poems drawing on his work as a spoken-word poet and performer.

Synopsis

09 / 39

Citizen

Claudia Rankine

“Citizen is audacious in form.”
The New York TimesReview excerpt

10 / 39

Lord of the Butterflies

Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson’s poetry collection explores gender, romantic relationships, loss, and family.

Synopsis

11 / 39

You Better Be Lightning

Andrea Gibson

“ANDREA GIBSON IS IN THE FIGHT FOR HEARTS AND MINDS.”
LEAVENED BY AN OCCASIONAL FLASH OF HUMOR.Published endorsement

12 / 39

Love Poems

Pablo Neruda, Donald D Walsh

“It is difficult to find an analogue for the sustained passion and gentleness communicated in this absolutely stunning apotheosis of the poetry of sexual love.”
Library JournalReview excerpt

13 / 39

Book of Questions

Pablo Neruda, Paloma Valdivia

“Sixty of the original 316 questions penned by the inimitable Chilean poet Pablo Neruda perch on vibrant landscapes solo, in pairs, or in trilling triplets.”
School Library JournalReview excerpt

14 / 39

The Poetics of Space

Gaston Bachelard, Maria Jolas

Bachelard makes rooms, corners, and everyday shelters feel newly significant, exploring how imagination turns inhabited space into a world of meaning.

Synopsis

15 / 39

elseship

Tree Abraham

“Anyone who has ever found romance and friendship more alike than not will find a deep recognition in these gorgeous pages.”
Ilana Masad, NPRReview excerpt

16 / 39

Poetry as Spellcasting

Tamiko Beyer, Destiny Hemphill

17 / 39

American Sunrise

Joy Harjo

“If you only read one book of poems this summer, make it An American Sunrise.”
Elizabeth Lund, The Washington PostReview excerpt

18 / 39

Unaccompanied

Javier Zamora

19 / 39

The Edge of Space-Time

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

20 / 39

Devotions

Mary Oliver

“It’s as if the poet herself has sidled beside the reader and pointed us to the poems she considers most worthy of deep consideration.”
Chicago TribunePublished endorsement

21 / 39

Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems

James Baldwin, Nikky Finney

“Lyrical, captivating, evocative, thought-provoking poems that also happen to be exploring the political climate of his time.” —Ploughshares“A beautiful and necessary collection of Baldwin’s poetry.”
American Book ReviewPublished endorsement

22 / 39

The Tradition

Jericho Brown

23 / 39

When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through

Joy Harjo, Leanne Howe

This anthology gathers Indigenous North American poetry across centuries, organizing traditional oral works and contemporary poems into five geographical sections.

Synopsis

24 / 39

The Illuminated Rumi

Jalal Al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks

Coleman Barks’s translations of Rumi’s poetry appear alongside Michael Green’s artwork, photographs, typography, and imagery drawn from spiritual traditions.

Synopsis

25 / 39

Devotion

Patti Smith

“Gracefully improvisational, as always, Smith offers an unusually poetic, mystical, and transfixing perspective on the mystery of literary creation.”
Donna Seaman, BooklistReview excerpt

26 / 39

Not Go Away Is My Name

Alberto Ríos

Alberto Ríos’s poems connect family memories and Sonoran Desert stories with life along the United States–Mexico border.

Synopsis

27 / 39

Just Us

Claudia Rankine

“A work that should move, challenge, and transform every reader who encounters it.”
Kirkus ReviewsReview excerpt

28 / 39

Electric Arches

Eve L Ewing, Eve L Ewing

29 / 39

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems

Paul B. Janeczko, Melissa Sweet

30 / 39

The Lost Words

Senior Lecturer in Geography and Environmental Management Robert MacFarlane, Jackie Morris

“A sumptuous, nostalgic ode to a disappearing landscape.”
KirkusReview excerpt

31 / 39

Do Angels Need Haircuts?

Lou Reed, Anne Waldman

“The portrait it paints of him is so specific and clear it's easy to say it makes you feel like you were there that night.”
Megan Volpert, PopMattersPublished endorsement