You Will Hear Thunder by Anna Akhmatova

 

Victoria Chang reads her poem, “OBIT, Caretakers”.

 Victoria Chang is a new to me poet! Listen to her read her poem, “OBIT, Caretakers”.

Ethel at 100 by Ishmael Reed

 

Here is another awesome poem titled, Ethel at 100, which is written and read by Ishmael Reed.

If by Rudyard Kipling read by Sir Michael Caine

 

Happy National Poetry Month! I found this video of Sir Michael Caine reading his favorite poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling and thought I'd share it to kick of National Poetry Month.

Broken Things by Alice Walker

Today marks the last day of National Poetry Month. I've decided to share a YouTube video of Alice Walker reading her poem, Broken Things.

Rupi Kaur Reads From Poetry Collection, Milk and Honey.

Rupi Kaur is a new to me poet and author. Below is more information about her from Wikipedia:

Rupi Kaur (born October 4, 1992) (Punjabi: ਰੂਪੀ ਕੌਰ) is an Indian born Canadian poet, writer, illustrator, and performer. Her debut book, a collection of poetry and prose titled Milk and Honey, was published in 2014.[1] Her second book, The Sun and Her Flowers, was published in 2017. Both of these books contain images, drawn by Kaur and others to help the reader associate a picture with each poem.

Interesting poetry and prose, but I am not sure I love her writing. 

Maya Angelou's Reads Her Poetry

'On the Pulse of Morning'

'Phenomenal Woman'

'Still I Rise'

I am a huge fan of Maya Angelou's poetry and her life's work. The above videos are of Maya Angelou reciting three of my favorite poems she has written: 'On the Pulse of Morning' read on January 20, 1993 at President Clinton's Inauguration (I remember hearing her read this live on television in 1993), 'Phenomenal Woman', and 'Still I Rise'.

I had the honor of hearing Dr. Angelou speak live in my life twice. The first time was while I was a college student at the University of Iowa and the second time was roughly a decade later in Santa Barbara, California with my husband at the Arlington Theatre. Both times hearing Dr. Angelou speak were amazing experiences for me. Dr. Angelou was a very gifted and captivating speaker. She'd dance, sing, recite poetry, and tell the most amazing stories about her life. 

Dr. Angelou is truly treasure and her life is a gift to us all. I can't believe it has almost been five years since her passing. 

I Love You by Paul Éluard

I can't remember when I first came across this specific poem, but it was definitely a couple of decades ago. The following quote about Paul Éluard is from Wikipedia:

Paul Éluard (French: [elɥar]), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel ([ɡʁɛ̃dɛl]; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the surrealist movement.

Paul Éluard was at one time married to Gala Dali before she left him and eventually married Salvador Dali.

Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter Explained In a Ted-Ed Talk!

With April being National Poetry Month, I thought it would be fun to share this video as to why Shakespeare loved iambic pentameter so much. Enjoy!

Dylan Thomas - 'Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night'

Happy National Poetry month! 

Listen to Dylan Thomas's Villanelle poem

'Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night'.

Happy National Poetry Month!!

Have fun reading poetry this month!! Perhaps you'll even have 

fun writing some poetry this month too.

I wrote a Piku Poem in 2011 and dedicated it to my husband.

So read my Piku Poem below!

Quickly sleep

comes,

I dream of you

Now

Kissing me softly,

Lovingly on the side of my neck,

I blush,

awaken with desire

for a kiss from you,

Now, forever

***

So, what is Piku? Well, it's a poem like a haiku.. instead of the 5-7-5 format of haiku, Piku uses pi as its base. The number of syllables in each line of the poem corresponds to the numbers in pi. In other words, as pi is 3.141592653..., the first line of the Piku contains three syllables, the second line contains one syllable, the third line contains four syllables, and so on.

***

So, will you take the piku poem challenge?

If so, share your poem with me in the comments

section below.