National Poetry Month's first celebration was sponsored by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 to draw attention to the important role poetry plays in our culture and to remind people that poetry matters. Poems are powerful tools in helping people express their emotions and understand the complexities of being human. Poems can be riddles, funny limericks, romantic sonnets, complex narratives, or song lyrics. Celebrate the power of poetry by enjoying poems from the sources on this guide or by writing poems of your own!
 |
| Visit Poets.org for a new poem every day or to read one of over the 15,000 poems archived there! |
|
This poem is just one in the anthology My Head Has a Bellyache And More Nonsense written by Chris Harris and illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. A copy of the full text can be checked out through MackinVIA. |
I Open My Eyes I open my eyes . . So much I see;
My friends. Our bikes. The grass. A swing.
Two dogs. A house. The sky. A tree.
Then I close my eyes. . .
I see everything. |
Like a narrative with your poem? Check out one of the library's over 200 novels in verse and get the best of both worlds!
Click on the Catalog tab and search for "poetry" to browse through the library's collection of poems.
The Poetry Machine can get your creative juices flowing! Packed with templates to inspire and guide you, writing a poem become as easy as filling in the blanks. Click the link above to get started. Choose "Free Verse" to let your ideas flow or "Poetry Machine" to access 48 different templates.
 |
Mr. President and Dr. Biden, Madame Vice President and Mr. Emhoff, Americans, and the World: When day comes, we ask ourselves: Where can we find light In this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We've braved the belly of the beast. We've learned that quiet isn't always peace, And the norms and notions of what "just is" Isn't always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow, we do it. Somehow, we've weathered and witnessed A nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished. |
The above is an excerpt from Amanda Gorman's poem "The Hill We Climb" that she read at the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. The full text can be found in the library or on MackinVIA.
