Poetry

Look at This Blue (Paperback)

By Allison Adelle Hedge Coke

$16.95

ISBN: 9781566896207

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Published: Coffee House Press - March 29th, 2022

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In a prose sentence, describing an explicit connection between mass extinction and genocide can feel forced, or worse, dehumanizing, but through the grammar of poetry Hedge Coke creates an emotional experience that pushes in the opposite direction, showing that to truly value humanity one must truly value the earth and everything on it. Like Voyage of the Sable Venus & the works of Susan Howe, Hedge Coke’s use of poetry breaks open the limits of “rational” thought to expose profoud and powerful truths of the human experience on earth.

Josh

Plans for Sentences (Paperback)

By Renee Gladman

$30.00

ISBN: 9781950268580

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Published: Wave Books - May 3rd, 2022

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Writing about the fundamental mechanics of language and narrative is kinda like trying to chop down a tree, with another tree. Gladman comes closer than any other writer I've read at pulling off this impossible feat. Plans for Sentences is complex, challenging, & strangely beautiful and there are phrases that will make every writer sigh.

Josh

The Dream of Reason (Paperback)

By Jenny George

$16.00

ISBN: 9781556595196

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Published: Copper Canyon Press - April 17th, 2018

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Not all of these poems are about death, but a lot of them are. Likewise, not all of these poems are about pigs, but really truly A LOT of them are, and Jenny George treats both subjects with the care and close attention of someone who loves this world and all the things living and dying in it. Describing a pig, George writes: "All sleeping things are children."

Piera

Gold (Paperback)

By Rumi, Haleh Liza Gafori (Translated by), Haleh Liza Gafori (Editor)

$14.95

ISBN: 9781681375335

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Published: NYRB Classics - March 8th, 2022

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For folks unfamiliar with Rumi, Haleh Liza's translation is the perfect introduction. Rumi was a Muslim poet in 13th cen. Persia, and his work has often been translated by westerners who struggled with the original language. Haleh's translation is vibrant and accessible, and through her skill with both languages, she offers readers a glimpse at the love Rumi held for his friend and teacher, Shams, which echoes through the centuries. Even as someone who doesn't usually enjoy poetry, this collection has served as a source of joy. I can't recommend it enough. 

Murphy

Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Paperback)

By Ocean Vuong

$16.00

ISBN: 9781556594953

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Published: Copper Canyon Press - April 5th, 2016

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Ocean Vuong's debut poetry collection is beautiful, poignant, and an absolute marvel to witness. I was stunned, amazed, dazzled, spellbound, [insert every adjective for "completely in awe"] by the immense heart in his words. Pick up a copy and give one poem a skim—you might just realize that Vuong's command of the English language will up the vibrancy of your view of the world, reminding you of everything that makes life so worth living. (Warning: If you're an annotator like myself, your copy will quickly be overtaken with sticky tabs, intense highlights, underlines, hearts, and exclamation points galore.)

-Cindy

A Year & Other Poems (Hardcover)

By Jos Charles

$22.00

ISBN: 9781571315472

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Published: Milkweed Editions - March 15th, 2022

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There is a hum to this collection, an intensity that feels quiet at first but grows as you spend time balancing your own thoughts & feelings on the poise and precision of Charles’s poems. Like walking through a bee-loud glade & then putting your ear against the hive. Think of Merwin. Think of Ocean Vuong. Think of Ilya Kaminsky. 

Josh

Canopy: Poems (Paperback)

By Linda Gregerson

$16.99

ISBN: 9780358622253

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Published: Ecco - March 22nd, 2022

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If you're only going to read one book for National Poetry Month, you can't go wrong with this one. Linda Gregerson covers a variety of topics but approaches them all with the type of beautiful verse that had me rereading poems over and over again.

Katherine

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song (LOA #333): A Library of America Anthology (Hardcover)

By Kevin Young (Editor)

$45.00

ISBN: 9781598536669

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Published: Library of America - October 20th, 2020

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A stunning compilation of verse that made me feel like I was seeing through time. Touching, humbling, brimming with power.

Stacey

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance (Hardcover)

By Nikki Grimes

$18.99

ISBN: 9781681199443

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Published: Bloomsbury Children's Books - January 5th, 2021

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Who better to cast light on the women of the Harlem Renaissance than brightly-burning, legacy-creating poet, Nikki Grimes? Complimented by colorful, touching art from other brilliant creators, this is a great collection of poetry accessible to a wide audience.

Stacey

Felon: Poems (Paperback)

By Reginald Dwayne Betts

$15.95

ISBN: 9780393542035

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Published: W. W. Norton & Company - March 30th, 2021

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Before he won a 2021 MacArthur “genius” grant and spearheaded Freedom Reads, an initiative to bring books to incarcerated people, Reginald Dwayne Betts was a poet. Before that, he was in prison, himself, for 9 years. This fearless book of poetry depicts the aftermath of incarceration – the regrets and the reverberations – as well as the injustices of the bail system. The poet takes an unflinching look at himself, his flaws, and the flawed system that afflicted him.

Rachael