Selected poems | 
pick#bookspin A piece of literary analysis I read on her career as a whole got me thinking about how she uses form not just to serve the individual poem, but as another form of social and political commentary - and how that‘s different from poets writing today. Definitely something I need to keep contemplating in my subsequent reading, but it was an interesting lens. @TheAromaofBooks
Music is filled with words that evoke specific memories and emotions, but never having been trained in music I‘m only familiar with a few of them. I love that I run across new ones all the time as I read poetry. #weirdwords #weirdwordwednesday @CBee
I didn‘t actually look at this too closely when it arrived with a ThriftBooks order a few months ago, so my mind was blown when I opened it just now to start reading and saw this! This slightly beat up looking paperback may have just become my new favorite volume on my shelves!
(The seller clearly didn‘t know what they had, it was free with my points, which means it must have been priced under $7)
pickGorgeous work from an extremely skilled poet. Some of the lines are scathing and taut, others relaxed and conversational, and she mixes these moods with a deftness that is impressive, keeping it alluring yet confusing, persuading me to go back and reread each poem line by line immediately after I‘d finish it—or finish a stanza!
There‘s also a sweet tenderness to the work that I don‘t see so often, which I appreciate.
I am cold in this house this house
Whose washed echoes are tremulous down lost halls.
I am a woman, and dusty, standing among new affairs.
I am a woman who hurries through her prayers.
Wow, Friday already?! 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪❓
This week has been challenging & life-changing for many of us. In our ways - big or small - we are all fighting for the same cause & this fight against racism continues. So, let's continue to uplift, encourage, & be kind to one another both in our words and actions.
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠! ❤
pickAs with any poetry collection, you‘ll have some you love and others that are okay, but don‘t inspire you or remind you why you love poetry. Still, this a good collection and I liked that this copy included an interview with Studs Terkel. Her remarks about Richard Wright and her abortion poem were interesting. Brooks proves you can write beautiful poems about even the toughest, most polarizing subjects.
#poetry #poetrymatters
#poetrymatters prompt 17: #old @LazyDays
Another new poet for me. I loved this poem of which this above is just a snippet.
You are Spring. 💚
I‘ve stayed in the front yard all my life.
I want a peek at the back
Where it‘s rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.
From: a song in the front yard
-Gwendolyn Brooks
This will probably be my last official #blackhistorymonth read (I have a couple hours left of The Souls of Black Folks as well). I still have a stack of books, a few audios, and several ebooks. I‘m glad I have so many #blackhistory and #blackauthors but I need more.
pickThese poems were moving and compulsively readable (which is saying a lot for me and poetry). Filled with personal reflections, mid-century African American history, and unsurprisingly beautiful language. My copy is completely marked up with all my favorites.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#BlackHistoryReads #BlackHistoryMonth
From 'The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock'
#BlackHistoryReads #BlackHistoryMonth
Okay, I don't mean to spam you all with poetry, but this long poem (on Emmett Till) is magnificent.
Full text here: https://m.poemhunter.com/poem/a-bronzeville-mother-loiters-in-mississippi-mean/
#BlackHistoryReads
#Riotgrams #WhereIRead
Literally anywhere. I needed to do laundry, y'all. 😝
#BlackHistoryReads
We do not want them to have less.
But it is only natural that we should think that we have not enough.
#BlackHistoryReads #BlackHistoryMonth
Some poetry as my first choice for #BlackHistoryReads #BlackHistoryMonth
Kind of a pessimistic note to start on, but it resonates.
My #FebruaryTBR for #FeistyFeb (and for #BlackHistoryReads).
Other than two books I'm currently reading, planning to only dip into these this month. Wish me luck!
This has been one of my favorite poems for a long time. #litsypoetry365
It's short but holds a lot.
Also if you can find audio of Brooks reading this poem it is worth it.
#seasonsreadings2016 #day17 #poetry Apparently, I had more poetry books than I thought. Leftovers from my time in the Honors program at college. More recently, I read Milk & Honey and that was fantastic!
Happy Birthday, Gwendolyn Brooks! Today would have been her 99th birthday.
Brooks was the first African-American to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize (the 1950 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry) for "Annie Allen."
