April is NOT the Cruelest Month, It's National Poetry Month
Listening to Poetry as well as reading it...
As a teenager, I loved poetry, the “classical” poetry taught in my very traditional school, and some of those poets are still my favorites today - Byron, Keats, Shakespeare, Dickinson and a few more - but that traditional education left out a lot- very few women poets (especially for a girls’ school), no modern and contemporary poets, no BIPOC/ global majority poets, and no poets from non “western” countries.
I’ve been turning back to poetry the last 6-7 years, the old favorites for sure, and finding new voices - new to me. Some of them are long gone, and some are still here, writing new poems as we speak. I thank the universe for poets.
For this post though, I want to focus on LISTENING to poetry, both spoken word and poetry slams, but also just listening to poems read out loud. I really regret that in my younger days, I made fun of spoken word/poetry slams, because who knows how many wonderful poets I missed out on.
The Slowdown - Podcast: A few years ago a friend told me about this podcast that delivers one poem each day - read by and put in context by a wonderful poet. Usually no more than 5-7 minutes each, listening to the Slowdown is now a daily ritual for me. Poet Major Jackson is now host. He took over from current Poet Laureate and one of my all time faves - Ada Limón, who took over from the original host, former Poet Laureate Tracy K Smith.
Elizabeth Acevedo: I have only ever read her young adult book The Poet X and her young adult novel in Verse Clap When You Land and found out from other poets I love that she is an award winning spoken word/poetry slam poet as well, and then I went down the rabbit hole and was not disappointed.
Darius Daughtry: I found Daughtry from reading his poem “what can a poem do”, but following him on Instagram, his work is even more impactful as spoken word.
Safia Elhillo: I was first exposed to Elhillo’s work during a 2020 Muslim American poetry zoom event, and was immediately taken by her perspective and work. Her novel in verse, Home is Not a Country, was one of my 2022 recommendations.
Andrea Gibson: I first found Gibson via other poets and their own poems from Instagram. Their collection, You Better Be Lightning, was and continues to be something I turn to. Their spoken word is also great.
Tonya Ingram: Ingram died in December 2022 at the age of 31 after living with LUPUS, waiting for a kidney transplant. I learned about her work through some of the other poets I love only last year, so even though her collection is now final, her work continues to broaden and impact others.
Meena Kandasamy: I came to Kandasamy via her novel When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife, and through her social media as a strong voice against Hindu Nationalism. So I was excited to learn she is also a poet. Her poem, This will Provoke You is about Hindutva/ Hindu Nationalism. Go to minute 2:46 for Kandasamy’s reading - This Poem Will Provoke You
Sarah Kay: Y’all I just learned about Sarah Kay LAST WEEK when she opened for and read a poem at the book launch for her friend, and one of my faves Clint Smith. As she set the stage, she read one of her poems and how she read it….perfection. So then I went down a rabbit hole of her readings and work, and requested her collections from the library. She was also a delightful and authentic conversationalist.