New Contemporary Poems

The Universe wants you to read these poems.  That's the message I was given one afternoon recently, when I came across this essay by the poet Tony Hoagland, who thinks that English teachers are generally unsuccessful at teaching poetry in schools. Hoagland thinks that we're going at poetry the wrong way 'round.   He feels that contemporary poetry is much more vital and accessible, and that if we teachers got students turned on to contemporary poetry, you would then be more open to the "old masters".  Hoagland suggested twenty poems that we could be teaching to achieve that end.

Now while I feel there's something to be said for his way of thinking, I didn't agree with his choice of poems.  And, as I happen to be familiar with a lot of contemporary poets, I came up with a list of twenty of my own selections.  There are twenty different poets with all sorts of different backgrounds.

As you read these poems, I don't want you to analyze.  Just react.  Respond.  If you find a line that you like, blog about that.  If you have a question, blog it.  If you have something to say pertinent to the theme of the poem, blog it.  (Read the introductory poem "Introduction to Poetry" for more advice.)

By the way, I encourage all of you to drop by the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival this summer.  Pictured above is the former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, reading there in 2008.  Other Poet Laureates who have read there include Billy Collins, Philip Levine, and Natasha Trethewey.  Many of the poets in your packet are Sunken Garden alumni.  There's food and drink. live music, then a poetry reading -- all in a beautiful setting on a lovely summer evening.  One can hardly get more civilized that that.