Poem-a-Day, #NationalPoetryMonth & more, celebrating 90 years as the nation's leading champion of poets, poetry, and the work of poetry organizations.
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You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
—Maya Angelou
poets.org/poem/still-i-rise
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"It has to be both: beautiful & political at the same time. I’m not interested in art that is not in the world. And it’s not just the narrative, it’s not just the story; it’s the language & the structure & what’s going on behind it."
—Toni Morrison (1931–2019)
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What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
—Robert Hayden
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/thos…
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think about it, please,
a little?
—James Baldwin, born #OTD in 1924
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/jame…
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"I'm a firm believer that language and how we use language determines how we act, and how we act then determines our lives and other people's lives." —Ntozake Shange, RIP (1948 - 2018) poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ntoz…
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The towers of Notre Dame cut clean and gray
The evening sky, and pale from left to right
A hundred bridges leap from either quay.
—Willa Cather in 1923
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/pari…
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O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
—Langston Hughes, born #OTD in 1902 poets.org/poetsorg/poem/let-… #BlackHistoryMonth
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Dear March - Come in -
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
—Emily Dickinson
#March #WomensHistoryMonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/dear…
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Dear March - Come in -
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
—Emily Dickinson
poets.org/poem/dear-march-co…
#WomensHistoryMonth
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we
protested
but not enough, we opposed them but not
enough. I was
in my bed, around my bed America
was falling
—Ilya Kaminsky @ilya_poet
poets.org/poem/we-lived-happ…
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Late Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis, when asked by @POETSorg in April 2015 about his favorite lines of poetry, sent in the last two lines of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, which he had printed on his official letterhead and signed: poets.org/late-congressman-j…
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Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore
—Naomi Shihab Nye
#WorldKindnessDay poets.org/poetsorg/poem/kind…
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I rise
I rise
I rise.
—Maya Angelou, born #OTD in 1928 #nationalpoetrymonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/stil…
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i need to know their names
those women i would have walked with
—Lucille Clifton
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/lost…
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The library is dangerous, full
Of answers. If you go inside,
You may not come out
The same person who went in.
—Alberto Rios
#Libraries poets.org/poetsorg/poem/dont…
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The darkest hour
is just before the dawn,
and that, I see,
which does not guarantee
power to draw the next breath,
nor abolish the suspicion
that the brightest hour
we will ever see
occurs just before we cease
to be.
—James Baldwin, born #OTD in 1924
poets.org/poet/james-baldwin
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Dear March - Come in -
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
—Emily Dickinson
#March #WomensHistoryMonth
poets.org/poem/dear-march-co…
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Sisters there is a hole in my heart
that is bearing your shapes
over and over
as I read only the headlines
of this morning's newspaper.
—Audre Lorde, born #OTD in 1934
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/audr…
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They have no idea
what I am.
—Terrance Hayes
poets.org/poem/what-i-am
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Finally understood I am the conductor
of my own life, and will be even after I die.
I, like the trees, will decide what I become:
—Andrea Gibson, 1975–2025
poets.org/poem/how-worst-day…
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After last week's reading by @TheAmandaGorman at President @JoeBiden's Inauguration, traffic to Poets.org spiked dramatically with 250% more visitors than on the same day last year! More here: poets.org/after-inauguration…
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My children are so young
when I turn off the radio as
the news turns
to counting the dead or
naming the act,
they aren’t even suspicious.
My children
are so young they cannot
imagine a world
like the one they live in.
—Carrie Fountain
#PoemADay
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The library is dangerous, full
Of answers. If you go inside,
You may not come out
The same person who went in.
—Alberto Ríos
#NationalLibraryWeek
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/dont…
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My god,
I thought, my whole life I’ve been under her
raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel
that I never got wet.
—Ada Limón @adalimon
#MothersDay #MothersDay2019
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/rain…
More poems to share: poets.org/poetsorg/poems-mot…
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It is June. I am tired of being brave.
—Anne Sexton
#June
poets.org/poem/truth-dead-kn…
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History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
—Seamus Heaney
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Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
—Mary Oliver, 1935-2019
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/mary…
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let them think they have accepted
arrogance in the universe,
then bring them to gynecologists
not unlike themselves.
—Lucille Clifton
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/wish…
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These poems
they are things that I do
in the dark
reaching for you
whoever you are
and
are you ready?
—June Jordan, born on this day in 1936
poets.org/poem/these-poems
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Congratulations to Ocean Vuong, who today was named a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient! @macfound poets.org/poet/ocean-vuong
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These poems
they are things that I do
in the dark
reaching for you
whoever you are
and
are you ready?
—June Jordan
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838
The library is dangerous, full
Of answers. If you go inside,
You may not come out
The same person who went in.
—Alberto Ríos
#BannedBooksWeek
poets.org/poem/dont-go-libra…
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i need to know their names
those women i would have walked with
—Lucille Clifton
#WomensMarch
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/lost…
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Absolutely, there were some forests left!
Absolutely, we still had some lakes!
—Matthew Olzmann
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/lett…
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I, too, sing America.
—Langston Hughes (b. #OnThisDay in 1902)
#BlackHistoryMonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-to…
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These poems
they are things that I do
in the dark
reaching for you
whoever you are
and
are you ready?
—June Jordan
#WorldPoetryDay
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/thes…
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To become obscure
among human beings,
but clearer
in all relations,
to become the night,
thickening to mist
over the water,
vanishing
with first light
of morning.
—Kevin Killian, RIP (1952 - 2019)
poets.org/poet/kevin-killian
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Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
—Emily Dickinson
poets.org/poem/because-i-cou…
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Let joy.
Let entering. Let rage and calm join.
Let quail come.
Let winter impress you. Let spring.
—Linda Gregg, who passed away yesterday at the age of 76
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/lind…
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Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.
—Robert Frost
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/mend…
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Wait.
Don’t go too early.
—Galway Kinnell
Read the full poem: poets.org/poetsorg/poem/wait…
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"They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America."
—Langston Hughes, born #OTD in 1902.
poets.org/poem/i-too
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I would do it all over again:
Be the harbor and set the sail,
Loose the breeze and harness the gale,
Cherish the harvest of what I have been.
Better the summit to scale.
Better the summit to be.
—Toni Morrison
poets.org/poem/eve-rememberi…
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The darkest hour
is just before the dawn,
and that, I see,
which does not guarantee
power to draw the next breath,
nor abolish the suspicion
that the brightest hour
we will ever see
occurs just before we cease
to be.
—James Baldwin, born #OTD in 1924 poets.org/poetsorg/poet/jame…
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649
We know ourselves to be part of mystery.
It is unspeakable.
It is everlasting.
It is for keeps.
—Joy Harjo, who has just been appointed the next U.S. poet laureate
poets.org/poem/keeps
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There are things you can't reach. But
you can reach out to them, and all day long.
The wind, the bird flying away.
—Mary Oliver (1935–2019)
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/mary…
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When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is
—Naomi Shihab Nye
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/red-…
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To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me—
That is my dream!
—Langston Hughes, born #OTD #BlackHistoryMonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/lang…
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These poems
they are things that I do
in the dark
reaching for you
whoever you are
and
are you ready?
—June Jordan
#NationalPoetryDay
poets.org/poem/these-poems
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And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.
—William Wordsworth, born #OTD in 1770
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-wa…
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Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore
—Naomi Shihab Nye
“Kindness” was Poets.org's most popular poem in 2018 by a contemporary poet:
poets.org/poetsorg/stanza/ki…
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Whoever you are, no matter
how lonely,
the world offers itself
to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing
your place
in the family of things.
—Mary Oliver
#PoemADay
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/wild…
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Congratulations to our new U.S. Poet Laureate @adalimon! newsroom.loc.gov/news/librar…
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Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
—Edgar Allan Poe
poets.org/poem/raven
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The border is a beautiful piece of paper folded carelessly in half.
—Alberto Ríos @AlbertoRiosAZ
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/bord…
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All poetry is a form of hope.
—Dean Young
#PoemADay
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It grieves me to think
the dead won't see them—
these things we depend on,
they disappear.
—Louise Glück (1943-2023)
poets.org/poem/night-migrati…
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In this time of uncertainty and great concern, people are turning to poems to seek language that centers us. In response to this need and to help our readers stay connected in the weeks ahead, we invite you to join a new initiative called Shelter in Poems: bit.ly/shelterinpoems
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You think I'm not a goddess?
Try me.
This is a torch song.
Touch me and you'll burn.
—Margaret Atwood, who turns 80 today
poets.org/poet/margaret-atwo…
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I can’t help it. I will
never get over making everything
such a big deal.
—Ada Limón @adalimon
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/last…
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because I cannot apologize
to the tree, to my own self I say, I am sorry.
I am sorry I have been so reckless with your life.
—Ada Limón
poets.org/poem/salvage-0
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April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
—T. S. Eliot
poets.org/poem/waste-land
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Unable, it seems, to fear what was too large to be comprehended.
—Jane Hirshfield
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/glob…
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may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
—Lucille Clifton
poets.org/poem/blessing-boat…
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Beware the ides of March.
—William Shakespeare
Read excerpts from "Julius Caesar":
#IdesofMarch
#BewareTheIdesofMarch
poets.org/poetsorg/text/exce…
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Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
—Joy Harjo
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/reme…
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269
544
My god,
I thought, my whole life I’ve been under her
raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel
that I never got wet.
—Ada Limón
poets.org/poem/raincoat
#MothersDay
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57,805
Emma Lazarus's "The New Colossus," forever a beacon of hope. poets.org/poetsorg/poem/new-…
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The stars do not blow away as we do.
—Linda Gregg, who passed away yesterday at the age of 76
poets.org/poetsorg/poet/lind…
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556
Celebrate Gwendolyn Brooks's centennial with this new collection of poems, essays, archival audio & more: poets.org/poetsorg/collectio…
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“History has its eyes on us.” —@TheAmandaGorman
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I wish
maps would be without
borders & that we belonged
to no one & to everyone
at once
—Yesenia Montilla
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/maps
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"Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before."
—Audre Lorde, born #OTD poets.org/poetsorg/poet/audr…
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Write in the light
of all the languages
you know the earth contains,
you murmur in my ear.
This is pure transport.
—Meena Alexander, RIP (1951 - 2018) poets.org/poetsorg/poet/meen…
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Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
—Mary Oliver poets.org/poetsorg/poet/mary…
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And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.
—Walt Whitman, born #OTD in 1819 poets.org/poetsorg/poet/walt…
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there are words
that I cannot separate,
like father, mother and child
—José B. González
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/line…
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You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
—Maya Angelou
#MLKDay #MLK90
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/stil…
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Let it be known: I did not fall from grace.
I leapt
to freedom.
—Ansel Elkins
poets.org/poem/autobiography…
#InternationalWomenDay2020
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499
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay
#April #NationalPoetryMonth
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/spri…
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The library is a quiet place.
Angels and gods huddled
In dark unopened books.
—Charles Simic
#NationalLibraryWeek
poets.org/poetsorg/poem/libr…
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512
with his very large hands,
perhaps, in all likelihood,
he put gently into the earth
some plants
—Ross Gay, writing in honor of Eric Garner, who died on this day in 2014
poets.org/poem/small-needful…
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Perhaps
the truth is that every song of this country
has an unsung third stanza, something brutal
snaking underneath us as we blindly sing
the high notes with a beer sloshing in the stands
—Ada Limón @adalimon
#July4th #IndependenceDay
poets.org/poem/new-national-…
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I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
—E. E. Cummings
#PoemADay
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And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.
—Sylvia Plath, born #OTD
poets.org/poem/morning-song
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Let it be known: I did not fall from grace.
I leapt
to freedom.
—Ansel Elkins
#InternationalWomensDay
poets.org/poetsorg/womens-hi…
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Thank you
my life long afternoon
late in this spring
that has no age
—W. S. Merwin
#PoemADay
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No one believes it is happening now.
—Czeslaw Milosz, born #OTD in 1911 poets.org/poetsorg/poem/song…
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