Really Good Poetry

[Cat Sith]

I should probably be flogged for admitting this, but I realized recently that I don't really read much poetry other than what's here in the Z forum. Often when famous poets are mentioned, especially current ones, I have no idea who they are. So I'm looking for some examples of really good poetry, to help me learn to write.

If you have a favorite poet, or better yet, favorite poems they've written, as amazing examples of the power of poetry, please post a link.

I'm mostly interested in more modern or current poets, though all are of course welcome.

Thanks in advance.
~WS

[Agnes]

I should probably be flogged for admitting this, but I realized recently that I don't really read much poetry other than what's here in the Z forum. Often when famous poets are mentioned, especially current ones, I have no idea who they are. So I'm looking for some examples of really good poetry, to help me learn to write.

If you have a favorite poet, or better yet, favorite poems they've written, as amazing examples of the power of poetry, please post a link.

I'm mostly interested in more modern or current poets, though all are of course welcome.

Thanks in advance.
~WS

A couple of poets I found online and enjoy reading regularly:
1. Terresa Wellborn. Her page is http://thechocolatechipwaffle.blogspot.com/
2. Dale Favier is his name, but I just think of him as mole. His page is http://koshtra.blogspot.com/

I also like Nada Gordon's flarfy poems. Dave Bonta's poetry. Tiel Aisha Ansari. You can find links to their web pages on my blog. There's a link to my blog somewhere around here...

[Agnes]

I was gonna drop this in Poets are Insane, but I'll put it here. http://www.amiribaraka.com/blew.html This links to Amiri Baraka's controversial poem Somebody Blew Up America.

You can find more of Amiri Baraka's work at that site, including this one:

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note

Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
The ground opens up and envelopes me
Each time I go out to walk the dog.
Or the broad edged silly music the wind
Makes when I run for a bus...

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars.
And each night I get the same number.
And when they will not come to be counted,
I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings anymore.

And then last night I tiptoed up
To my daughter's room and heard her
Talking to someone, and when I opened
The door, there was no one there...
Only she on her knees, peeking into

Her own clasped hands




Good poem. Here's his wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka


Agnes

[olson29]

Hi WS,
I certainly don't read enough either and often get too excited when reading and just start writing: Some include

Rumi
Tu Fu
Wallace Stevens
Mary Oliver
Tupac
Po Chui
Suwol Kim
Hart Crane
Walt Whitman
Gabriela Mistral
Marina tsvetaeva
Emily Dickenson
Rilke
Charles Baudelaire
Pablo Neruda
Li Po

to name a few