Do you love poetry or want help getting into poetry? You've come to the right place. Even for bookish culture seekers, many seem to find poetry somewhat difficult to get into, perhaps because of the mass of options out there and the lack of any kind of guidance. Perhaps because high school english classes killed all interest. So I decided to do a rundown of five of my favourite collections at the moment. This isn’t an indication of the best poetry available, nor of all time, just the things I’ve read fairly recently that have made an impact on me. I hope you’ll give them a go too and if you do, specifically if you’re not that acquainted with poetry, I implore you to remember they can be dipped into whenever you fancy. Also, poetry is not a conveyor of information like narrative but and expression in language. You may not get or understand a poem at one point in your life but have it be the most amazing thing you’ve ever read at some other time. That’s kind of the beauty and magic of poetry. Plus it’s really easy to just get one or two read whilst you drink that gingerbread latte in your favourite cafe.
#5: The Black Flamingo - Dean Atta
Yes, I may have put this at number five but I absolutely love it. The only reason this is at number five is that it lacks the rapidity of reading one or two poems over that gingerbread latte. Black Flamingo by Dean Atta is kind of a modern day epic primarily written for a youth and YA audience. An almost novel length, single, narrative-ish poem done with flair and fabulousness eeking out of every camp pore. In essence this is a complex reflection from a minority hero. A coming of age story that is also a coming out story and deals with racial complexities that intertwine with all of it. The story is one at first posed as dealing with fear, being fierce and brave in the face of the confines of expectation: A theatrical debut of sorts. Yet in the end it is a tale of freedom in honesty and self. Just could be a little intimidating for the first time poetry reader. Still it’s a great read and you should just do it.
#4: Moder Dy - Roseanne Watt
This is truly magical poetry of a deeply rare kind. This was a hard one to only rate at number four but it’s not at all because of quality, rather it’s accessibility that brings down Moder Dy in this wee ranking. Unlike The Black Flamingo this isn’t a single epic poem but a true collection. Yet is a beautiful and focused collection. For first time poetry readers, and those unfamiliar with the existence of various dialects and languages of the British Isles, this could be a daunting task. Many of the poems are written in Shaetlan, a form of Scots combined with ancient Nord languages. Give yourself the time to practice them, watch some of Roseanne Watt’s videos online, and check the notes that provide definitions, you’ll be fine. You just might need to put a little more time into it than other collections. In the end though, you’ll be happy you did. This collection sings in the voices of selkies on the beach and kelpies in the lochs. The whistling winds over the bare grass hills and the calls of the winter waves caressing the white sands of the far northern isles of Shetland. The mysterious music of fading myths envelope every note of passion, love, loss, and hope central to the human experience. Pure magic.
#3: Sweetdark - Savannah Brown
Savannah Brown, by her own admission, rushed to self publish her first collection too early, driven by the urge to be of a certain age. Her first collection Graffiti isn’t bad by any sense of the imagination, not like the plethora of other self published poetry by social media influencer types that was common at the time. Indeed Savannah Brown proved it was possible to actually be a serious poet, that actually loves poetry rather than loves their self indulgent writing, and self publish in the social media driven world. Having said that Graffiti just isn’t a patch on Sweetdark. This is a moving collection that rings with the kind of inquiry and ruthlessness of the early 20th century existentialists, a kind of millennial Simone de Beauvoir in verse. The poems in this collection rattle with a hedonism born of nihilistic finality. Finding common cause in the doom cycles of mood, the environment and the universe before bringing you to the surface, realising that this is our only opportunity to be magical and wonderful together. This collection was absolutely worth the wait.
#2: The Bonniest Companie - Kathleen Jamie
So there may be a little favouritism in this one as Kathleen Jamie is Scotland’s fourth Makar (like a poet laureate) and I thoroughly enjoy all her writing. For me though this is my favourite of her poetry collections at the moment. The Bonniest Companie doesn’t have the expanse of existential consumption raised from staring and the universe’s infinite void, like Sweetdark. Instead it finds the emotional rapture of a life lived reflected in the green of a wet morning garden. Loss of loved ones and the embrace of friends and family in the chatter and songs of seabirds. Kathleen Jamie twists and curves you around the Scottish coasts and countryside to find life and human experience in every last animal, plant and rock. Our shared histories all huddled together in the world we all share, alive and forever as long as there’s those to take notice.
#1: The Complete Poetry - Maya Angelou
A true classic, I could have just as easily put Shakespeare here for how important and influential Maya Angelou is. I haven’t carried around a complete works of Shakespeare with me since I was sixteen though. This collection is one I have found myself repeatedly dipping into of late. Raunchy, funny, direct and yet at times subtle, the poetry of Maya Angelou should be required reading. The imagery in her poems is humanistic and forthright, she’s definitely got a “suffers no fools,” tone about her. Yet, the poetry is welcoming and heartfelt, focused on the universal experience to universalise her particular experience… or perhaps it’s the other way round. Who really cares with this kind of energetic and clever verse. This is truly theatre on the page, playing out in words what everyone knows but few dare to whisper.
So I hope that might inspire you to go and find a great poetry collection to add to your weekend cafe reads. If you want to get more lifestyle and travel content for bookish culture seekers, subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. All book links are affiliate links that won’t cost you a penny extra but do help support my work no matter what you may choose to buy. You can also support me on Patreon and be real part of everything I do with behind the scenes information on what’s happening now and into the future. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you’ll join my bookish wanderer community. Hope to be seeing you soon, take care and stay awesome.
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