Perhaps no other art form is asked to defend its value, impact, relevance, and existence as often as poetry. Through the centuries poets have explained how poetry connects us to ourselves. With a mastery of language and its possibilities, poets elevate the material of everyday communication to art that requires reflection and contemplation, and ultimately elucidates our location in the world.
As the poet Muriel Rukeyser once wrote, “If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger.”
Join the celebration by printing one of the following poems from our downloadable Poem in Your Pocket Day PDF.
As thousands marched in Baltimore this week to protest the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died in police custody after suffering a spinal injury, many were reminded of one Simone song in particular: “Baltimore.” Continue reading
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