Answers to Go
SAN MARCOS PUBLIC LIBRARY 625 E. HOPKINS ST. 512-393-8200
Q. I want to start reading and understanding poetry. Where should I begin?
A. First of all, forget what you learned in school. There is not a right way to write, read or understand poetry. You don’t need to read Shakespeare’s sonnets to be a reader of poetry, and you don’t need to parse every line of a poem to understand it. You don’t have to understand or “get it” to appreciate and enjoy a poem. You don’t have to like every poem ever written, even if they’re award-winning. Poetry is a personal experience.
According to Stephanie Burt in Don’t Read Poetry, “Poems are like pieces of music: by definition they all have something in common, but they vary widely in how they work, where they come from, and what they try to do. Various readers like various poems for various reasons, just as various listeners like various genres of music, various artists and various songs. And the same listeners can care about different songs for different reasons, at different times in your life or even at different times of day.”
So, let’s focus on how to find poetry that you enjoy. The only way to do that is to start reading or listening to poetry. I recommend starting with a poetry podcast. Try The Slowdown, where former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith reads a poem every weekday and explores how poetry helps us slow down, observe, think more deeply and better understand each other and our world. Another great podcast, Poetry Unbound, features an immersive exploration of a single poem in each episode, guided by Pádraig Ó Tuama.
We have some accessible poetry collections at the library that are quite popular. Try Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, The Dark Between Stars by Atticus, or Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav. Novels-in-verse (a novel that is told in verse rather than prose) are also a good place to start because the poems are connected by a plot line, which often makes them more accessible. Try Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, or The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.
Some of my favorite poetry collections are The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded by Molly McCully Brown, M Archive: After the End of the World by Alexis Pauline Gumbs and American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes. Library staff member and poet E.D. Watson recommends Blessing the Boats by Lucille Clifton, The Tradition by Jericho Brown, A Rope of Luna by Lisha Adela García and A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson.
Once you find a favorite poet, you can do an Internet search to see which poets influenced them or what poetry collections they recommend and then see if you enjoy any of those poets/collections. Happy reading!
