It's not often that poetry enters the national conversation, but we couldn't be happier that it has right now. After watching National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's incredible delivery at President Biden's inauguration, we're feeling inspired to take a deeper dive into this literary art form.
These acclaimed reads range from classic to contemporary and demonstrate the transportive power of a few choice words on a page. You might even want to read them aloud to truly experience the power of the words themselves. Check out these 12 poetry books that offer a deep read into short works.
All eyes were on 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman at President Biden's inauguration as she stole the show with the recitation of her poem “The Hill We Climb.”
In the process of writing it, Gorman told CNN she did “a deep literature dive” into previous inaugural poems delivered throughout history, but she finished it in the aftermath of the insurrection at the Capitol building just days before the inauguration. According to Gorman, the horrific event solidified her poem's message of "hope and unity and healing."
Gorman's forthcoming debut collection of poetry and illustrated children's book are both already massive best-sellers on the heels of her Inauguration Day delivery.
If it's been a while since you picked up a book of poetry, Rupi Kaur's writing is the perfect reintroduction to the genre.
Her first book, a meditation on love and loss titled Milk and Honey, put her short, yet penetrating verses on the map. Her second book, The Sun and Her Flowers, both builds on it and also stands alone as a fully realized work examining one's ancestral roots. Her recently released third collection, Home Body, is a beautiful read that's as introspective as it is raw.
It's almost impossible to divorce Sylvia Plath's work from her known struggle with mental illness and her suicide. In spite of — or perhaps because of — her tragic life story, the work she left behind shimmers, bites, and certainly strikes a nerve.
The posthumously published Ariel is a poetry collection filled with lyrical observations with a macabre underbelly.
Much has been written about addiction, but getting a glimpse into the mind of an addict is still no less haunting and compelling.
Kaveh Akbar's debut book of poetry centering around this topic is electric, emotional, and profoundly human, without veering into the realm of self-indulgence.
5'If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho' translated by Anne Carson
We may only have most of ancient Greek poet Sappho's work in fragments, but that makes it no less evocative.
This book, expertly compiled by classicist Anne Carson, presents these poignant pieces of prose on the page (in both English and Greek), while also denoting the missing parts with brackets. The result is an absorbing, suggestive, and immersive reading experience.
No one does a line break quite like e.e. cummings — his work is part poetry and part puzzle, as the unusual punctuation and spacing he uses enable readers to spend more time savoring the text.
This collection of erotic poetry is funny, sweet, sexy, and loving, and it allows readers to see love in a context that isn't so black and white.
Austin Kleon writes poems with other people's words. This book is compiled of newspaper articles that he's blacked out with a Sharpie, so that only choice words or letters are left visible.
The resulting poems are unexpectedly bizarre, dreamy, and even heartbreaking.
Filled with tongue-twisters and fantastical imagery, it's a great book for reading aloud to youngsters to instill in them a love for the wonderful world of words.
Graceful and soul-affirming, Upile Chisala's Soft Magic is a meditation on Black self-love and shared love. It's also a call to fully step into and make peace with every part of one's body and mind amidst the chaos of a challenging world.
American transcendentalist Walt Whitman wrote with palpable emotion about the beauty of nature and of the love between two people, defying conventions of the time.
This edition of Leaves of Grass contains the original 12 poems from his 1885 first publication of the text — a great place for curious first-time readers of his work to start.
Lang Leav's love poems may be short, but they carry a lot of weight. This collection has a celestial theme, a brilliant observation of how the most intimate experiences can also be universally felt.
We've entered the age of the Instagram poet, and if you've ever caught yourself scrolling through the #poetry hashtag, you may have come across Atticus's wildly popular posts.
His debut poetry book is youthful and incandescent, depicting the highs and lows of love and romance.
Melanie YatesSenior Home Decor EditorMelanie is the senior home decor editor of Best Products, where she's been researching and testing out home and bedding products since 2015 — her work can also be found on House Beautiful and Women's Health.
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