Family Poetry

In a working-class family that considers sensitivity a “fatal diagnosis,” how does a child grow up to be a poet? What happens when a body “meant to bend & breed” opts not to, then finds itself performing the labor of care regardless? Why do we think our “common griefs” so singular? Bad Hobby is a hard-earned meditation on questions like these—a dreamscape speckled with swans, ghosts, and weather updates.

In these poems, Kleber-Diggs names delight in the same breath as loss. Moments suffused with love—teaching his daughter how to drive; watching his grandmother bake a cake; waking beside his beloved to ponder trumpet mechanics—couple with moments of wrenching grief—a father’s life ended by a gun; mourning children draped around their mother’s waist; Freddie Gray’s death in police custody. Even in the refuge-space of dreams, a man calls the police on his Black neighbor.

This book is based on the life experiences of a little girl who had to grow up fast. She was a mother at the age of 14. She had an apartment and adult bills at the age of 15. She struggled in an urban environment to do the right thing, but kept doing the wrong until she had enough experiences in life to guide her through her storm. Learning by experiences and not giving up, today she is a successful business owner, and her daughter is also a successful business owner. She has two beautiful, respectful, and smart granddaughters.

From Lincoln Center’s inaugural poet-in-residence comes this unflinching collection that intricately mines the experience of being a Black woman in America. A highly anticipated volume from critically acclaimed poet Mahogany L. Browne, Chrome Valley is at once a luminous hymn and a battle cry. Spanning the course of her own life as well as embodying centuries of virulent history, this collection pays solemn tribute to the women who came before her.

Renia White’s debut poetry collection strikes up a conversation, considering what’s being said, what isn’t, and where it all come from. From her vantage point of Black womanhood, White probes the norms and mores of everyday interactions. In observations, insights, and snippets of speech, these poems look to the unspoken thoughts behind our banter, questioning the authority of not only the rule of law but also of our small talk itself—the concepts we have accepted and integrated without pause.

Clara Jean Beaman Walker was the third of seven children born to Cora and Clarence Beaman in Knoxville, TN, in 1910. Considered to be “Little Mother” by her siblings, she always gave her best to her birth family and to the family she created with her husband, John Albert Walker. Three sons came from this union: Johnny, Clarence, and Henry. A teacher at heart, Jean saw each child before her and helped them navigate home economics, English, and realizing their potential.

Whispers to Mom is the ultimate tribute to the extraordinary role of mothers. This beautifully crafted collection brings to life the love, strength, and quiet sacrifices that define motherhood. With heartfelt, rhyming poems, it captures every stage of a mother’s journey—from the miracle of childbirth and nurturing days, to the enduring bond shared through life’s milestones. Whether you’re gifting it for Mother’s Day, a birthday, or “just because,” this book is a timeless celebration of a mother’s love that will be cherished for years to come.

A genre-bending exploration of poetry and human migration—another revelatory expedition from the National Book Award–winning poet who changed the way we see art, the museum, and the Black female figure. Winner of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Twenty-five years ago, after her maternal...

Katrine Marie Guldager er tilbage som lyriker med en samling digte, som handler om at blive til i en anden verden. Flere tider og steder lægger sig ind over hinanden. En nutid med børn, kat og hortensiabed flyder sammen med erindringer om en barndom i Østafrika: Haile Selassies løver, at spise nzima med fingrene, tiden tilbragt alene under bananpalmen, at krydse en flod i en anden tid. Og indimellem bryder en stemme ind, jegets mor, som ofte erindrer tingene noget anderledes.

Emmy Award-winning and New York Times bestselling writer, comedian, and actor Bob Odenkirk and his daughter, illustrator Erin Odenkirk, present poetic nonsense for all ages perfect for fans of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky! Bob Odenkirk began writing these poems with his children when they...

Named a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Pick “Among the year's highlights . . . groundbreaking, epic . . . Like visitors exiting the Met’s galleries, readers will emerge from Information Desk bedazzled by the transformative horizons of art...

The acclaimed poetic force celebrates the practice of poetry as healing and prayer in this vital, life-affirming collection about surviving the void and touching the divine—the second book in a creative collaboration between Amistad and Moore Black Press. At age fifteen, Barbara Fant...

In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on—to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in.

The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray, Bella Thorne’s collection of illuminating and inspiring poems chronicles her personal struggles, relationships, and wild-child lifestyle, all with her trademark wit and wisdom.

Honeybee is a collection of raw, honest, and intimate conversations with oneself that lead you on a journey of reflection. By writing truthfully about the intricacies of her experiences, Rideau’s first collection of work is one that will speak to the very depths of those who read it, inspiring a will to question, heal and empower.

In this radiant debut collection, Cathryn Shea constructs a world as delicate, colorful, and sharp as an autumn leaf yet as stable as the ancient tree it’s fallen from. Harnessing evocative imagery that illuminates the inherent spirituality within even the frailest human gestures, these poems reach across generations, genders, and cultures to give voice to the kind of unabashed gratitude that lights up our darkest edges.

This exciting collection of free-form poetry with over 40 poems by Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, is a sharing of both professional and personal thoughts and feelings. Susan is a strong advocate of the creative use of poetry to express the wonderment, frustration, dedication, and the love of nurses for their profession and their patients.

Christian Morgenstern kombiniert in seinem Werk ernste, gedankenvolle Lyrik und groteske Verse mit ironisch-skeptischem Witz. In seinen Werken ist die Frage nach dem Sinn der menschlichen Existenz sowie der Versuch, den Mensch zu sich selbst zu führen, verankert. Er nimmt Sinnbilder wörtlich, wandelt Klangbilder in sinnfreier Analogie und grotesker Umdeutung ab. Interpretiert werden Morgensterns Texte von Meistern ihres Fachs, die dabei genau den richtigen Ton treffen - gefühlvoll, pointiert, ironisch und vor allem facettenreich.

The Dry Valley encapsulates one woman’s relationship with herself, her alcoholic spouse, and the world, in three different Saskatchewan landscapes. The poems offer a fascinating interplay between mindful explorations of self and immersions in the challenging complexities of interpersonal relationships, social issues, and meaningful engagement with the environment.

My latest book is called Looking Back: A Poets Journey and is my sixth poetry book in just a year and a half. It has been a very tearful and emotional time as I wrote down the pages and started looking back at some of my fans favorites and some of the poetry that made the poet you see today. I hope that you enjoy listening to them as I have enjoyed writing them for you all. Words can never express the happiness that I have inside and I want to thank you all for such a wonderful journey so far.