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Verses for Everyone

April is National Poetry Month! Not something you think you want to celebrate? I didn’t, either, until a few years ago, when I was lucky enough to happen upon What the Living Do, a collection of poems by Marie Howe. Before I read her book, which mainly chronicles her brother’s battle with AIDS, I thought poetry was simply something I’d never understand. The way Howe writes, though, is graceful, accessible, and relatable: “We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss—we want more and more and then more of it.” This, according to Howe, is what the living do. I couldn’t agree with her more.

If you’re interested in expanding your repertoire, try Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud, edited by Robert Pinsky (published in 2009). As the title suggests, the poems in this compilation were chosen for the way they sound when read aloud. But I’ve found they sound just as good read to yourself on a quiet afternoon. The book features the usual suspects — William Shakespeare, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes — but also includes selections from many contemporary poets (give Billy Collins a try). There’s a little something for everyone here; if you don’t like one style, turn the page for something new. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up wishing every month was National Poetry Month. — Stephanie Monahan