Staff Picks: 12 Poems That Move Us

“The Writer”

When I received this anthology for my first serious literature class in college, I opened it to a random page and started reading. By chance of fate, this is the poem I came across, and being a young writer myself, struggling with my own “great cargo,” I fell in love with the poet’s images of “windows tossed with linden” and the “dazed starling” and cried at the deep love the speaker clearly feels for his daughter. —Erin

Listen to the poem.

“Morning”

I can’t remember where I first encountered Frank O’Hara’s poem “Morning,” but it has stuck with me over the years for the sheer emotional weight of its simple prose: “If there is a / place further from me / I beg you do not go”—three lines that have come to represent, for me, the power of poetry to resonate deeply and lastingly. —Hilary

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“Love After Love” by Derek Walcott

When I picked this collection up, which features poems handpicked by some very famous men, of course I thumbed through the pages looking for my favorite performers. When I found actor Tom Hiddleston’s pick—“Love After Love” by Derek Walcott—I couldn’t move beyond it. With loving words, the poem depicts self-acceptance as a dinner party encouraging readers to “feast” on their lives. If you’ve ever sought permission to love yourself with complete abandon, you’ll find it in Walcott’s words. —Tolani

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“Macrophobia: Fear of Waiting”

My favorite poem in this stunning debut collection is “Macrophobia: Fear of Waiting.” Like all of the poems in this collection, it is vibrant and emotional and every time I come back to it, it seems new. —Sarah Jane

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“When a Woman Loves a Man”

I love the contrasts and juxtapositions that David Lehman wrote into his poem “When a Woman Loves a Man.” It reminds me of my younger, dramatic self in my past dysfunctional relationships. I think it’s wonderfully unhinged, and hilarious. —Allison

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“The Man Without Leather Breeches”

“Still I Rise”

“The Gold Key”

“Wild Geese”

Reading Mary Oliver calms me. In my favorite poem, “Wild Geese,” she gives you permission to be your flawed and imperfect self—and assures you that you are still worthy. She promises that we are all the same. “Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.” She acknowledges that the world is full of pain and heartbreak, and that it’s still wondrous in every way. —Wendy

Listen to the poem.

“Stations”

“Mouthful of Forevers”

“Mouthful of Forevers” encapsulates the often indescribable feeling of love after love. While most love poems seem to talk only about the present, von Radics captures the beauty and importance of starting over and learning to love again. —Nicole

“Where the Sidewalk Ends”

I read WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS at the end of every school year all the way through. The title poem was one of my favorites, because it was about how we dwell in possibility. The line “Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, / And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go” explains the wonder of childhood exploration with perfect elegance. And that’s really the power of Shel Silverstein. —Leora

Listen to the poem here.