In honor of National Poetry Month, we polled our wonderfully well-read AACPL staff to find out what poets (or specific poems) they would recommend to our customers.
Where possible, we have linked to titles in our library collection, but in cases where our system doesn’t offer works by suggested poets, we have linked to other digital resources for you to explore.
The poet most frequently cited as a favorite by our library colleagues was Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in history (Melinda, Crofton Library; Amanda, Glen Burnie Regional Library; Darnice, Maryland City at Russett Library; and Jennifer, Severna Park Library).
Some of the poets cited by our staff are Pulitzer Prize winners like Mary Oliver (Monica, Odenton Regional Library; Sarah, Virtual Services at Headquarters) and Edna St. Vincent Millay (Darnice, Maryland City at Russett Library), specifically “Love Is Not All - Sonnet XXX”, “A Modern Declaration” and “Renascence” (Amanda, Glen Burnie Regional Library).
Others are so well-known as to perhaps already be familiar names even for those less familiar with the canons poetry, such as Langston Hughes (Monica, Odenton Regional Library), Rumi (Veronica, Mountain Road Library), Philip Levine (Andy, Severna Park Library), Ann Sexton and Sylvia Plath (Sharon, Odenton Regional Library) and Rainer Maria Rilke (Veronica, Mountain Road Library).
Still other selections by our staff are less well-known, but critically acclaimed, such as Julie Fogliano (Alison, Materials Management at Headquarters), Galway Kinnell (Sharon, Odenton Regional Library), performance poet Neil Hilborn (Katelyn, Crofton Library), Maggie Smith and her viral piece “Good Bones” (Stephanie, Riviera Beach Library), and Amanda Lovelace, specifically her books Women Are Some Kind of Magic and Break Your Glass Slippers (Melissa, Cataloguing Services at Headquarters).
Some library staff focused their favorites on poet-writers of children’s literature, such as Nikki Grimes (Kelly, Brooklyn Park Library) and Eugene Field (Jennifer, Severna Park Library), while others fondly recall loving the poetic prose of young adult titles by such writers as Jacqueline Woodson (Lisa, Glen Burnie Regional Library), Stephanie Hemphill (Veronica, Mountain Road Library), and Elizabeth Acevedo (Sharon, Odenton Regional Library).
A great many colleagues noted being especially moved by poets whose work delves deeply into lived experience in minoritized communities, such as Jasmine Mans and Joy Harjo, (Darnice, Maryland City at Russett Library); Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez and Rupi Kaur (Monica, Odenton Library), Claudia Rankine (Sharon, Odenton Regional Library), and Chen Chen, especially his piece “i love you to the moon &” (Amanda, Glen Burnie Library).
Interestingly, a number of AACPL staff felt especially connected to poets with local roots in our great state of Maryland, including three colleagues who noted a fondness for Edgar Allen Poe (Kelly, Brooklyn Park Library), with special mention of his pieces “The Bells” (Amanda, Glen Burnie Library); and “Annabel Lee” (Helen, Severna Park Library). Another local favorite was Lucille Clifton (Amanda, Glen Burnie Regional Library & Sharon, Odenton Regional Library). Amanda recalls that “I enjoyed reading “blessing the boats” before every meal in the Great Room at St. Mary's College. It's on a wall on the stairs leading up to the Great Room”, while Sharon remembers that “I was fortunate to be in the presence of Lucille Clifton as she read aloud new and old poems by candlelight at the Historic St. Mary's Statehouse during my senior year at SMCM. Go Seahawks!” Another local poet mentioned, who was born in New York but lived in Baltimore for over 30 years, was Ogden Nash (Susan, Linthicum Library). Susan shared that “I discovered his poetry when I was a teenager wandering through the aisles of my local library. One poem that particularly caught my fancy was ‘The cow is of the bovine ilk. One end is moo, the other milk.’”
Some of the local poets cited by library colleagues are individuals to whom they have personal connections, such as PJ Dominiski, whose mother Maureen Dominiski works at Deale Library, or Jason L. Yurcic whose collection of poems Odes to Anger was praised by Jeb at Glen Burnie Regional Library as a beautiful channeling of a traumatic childhood and violent early adulthood into being “a true survivor”. One of our library staff, Monica of Odenton Regional Library, even coordinated the publication of two teen anthologies that include poetry and are in the AACPL catalog.
We here at the library consider poetry outside the box as including songwriters too, as evidenced by staff mention of musical poets Tupac Shakur (Kelly, Brooklyn Park Library), India.Arie and Tracy Chapman (Monica, Odenton Library), along with David Bowie (particularly his 1971 album Hunky Dory) and Morrissey while with The Smiths (Betsy, Brooklyn Park Library, who gushed that “I've listened to both a gazillion times!”). Jason at Odenton Regional Library also cited such classic musical wordsmiths as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, and Townes Van Zandt, while Gabby at Busch Annapolis Regional Library picked out the lyrical talents of slam poet Taylor Mali. She specified that although he is most well-known for his poem “What Teachers Make”, but he also wrote “Tony Steinberg: Brave Seventh Grade Viking Warrior”, which she admits “hits me right in the feels every time”.
More than a few AACPL staff cited specific poems or poetry collections as having a special place in their hearts. Maureen of Deale Library called Love Poems (for Married People) by John Kenney “laugh out loud funny!”, while Jennifer of Severna Park Library underscored the high quality of T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, but said her absolute favorite is Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise because “she always gives me chills”. Angela, also of Severna Park Library recommends The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service because “I love the catchy rhyme scheme, and the spooky narrative is perfect for sharing around a campfire”.
Naomi Shihab Nye's work is also especially beloved by staff, including Amanda of Glen Burnie Regional Library, who “once memorized ‘The Traveling Onion’ because I loved it so”, and by Becky in Programming & Outreach at Headquarters, who particularly enjoys “Every day as a wide field, every page“. Similarly, more than one colleague cited Elizabeth Bishop, specifically the poems “One Art” (Jennifer, Broadneck Library), and “Sestina” (Amanda, Glen Burnie Library).
Even our library CEO, Skip Auld, weighed in! He shared that his favorite poem is “To Marilyn Monroe, Whose Favorite Color Was White” by Madeline DeFrees, whose piece he heard recited at the Public Library Association Conference almost two decades ago and still loves.
We hope you are able to savor these beautiful works of creativity as much as we have! Perhaps you will even discover a new favorite whose poetry gives you all the feels. Happy National Poetry Month from Anne Arundel County Public Library!