I read somewhere that April is poetry appreciation month. Whether or not that is fully true, I wanted to take the time to highlight poetry on this blog. Now, I don’t read as much poetry as I would like to, but for a little while, I was so immersed in poems. It was a weird transitional period in my life, and I found that the emotions and feelings invoked by poets just reached into my heart like they could see how I felt.
So I wanted to take this time to collate the poetry books I read and loved, as well as those on my TBR. Perhaps you may find that they will touch you too in a way you’re needing right now. Or maybe they’ll introduce you to something you never knew you wanted to read until now.
And if you have any recommendations for other poetry books, I’m all ears because I want to dive back into that genre with the perspective I now bring.
The Last Time I’ll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza
I love how this book touches on heartbreak and seeing the world around you with reminders of your first love. I hated that it made so much sense to me, even after so many years since such heartbreak. Why couldn’t I just let go? But Dawn’s words helped me heal in some ways I never got to – where closure was never truly formed. Where it previously made sense to just forget the pain, shove it to the farthest corner and move on, perhaps years later I come to realize I hadn’t exactly moved past that dark corner I never looked at.
Lessons I learned: It’s okay to remember and reflect on our first love (and first heartbreak). Even though it didn’t work out – maybe even ended catastrophically – it doesn’t mean you’re a failure.
It might just mean that I have so much more to give to whoever I find next.
EPILOGUE
Despite everything
I still thank the universe
For blessing me with you
As my first
If I could love you this much
For this long
– And on my first try –
Then surely,
I could love someone else more
Far better
Far longer.
Bending the Universe by Justin Wetch
I picked this poetry book up on a whim. It was my first poetry book I’d ever read but something about it was calling to me. This copy wasn’t found at my store so I travelled to another bookstore just to get it. It didn’t matter to me that Justin was a fairly new and unknown writer – this was his first poetry collection to be published – but that his words drew me in nonetheless.
It felt kind of like a diary digging into the different sections of poems. I resonated with poems in every category. But as the title may suggest, I found myself most drawn to his words of wonder, intrigue and reflection as humans placed on this earth. The magnitude of beauty, the (in)significance of our being, the thoughts that plague us at nights.
A Hundred Billion Stars
When the brightness of one star
Is lost in the multitude of its brethren
It makes one feel so insignificant
But simultaneously irreplaceable.
Thoughts of chance and destiny
Burn into my retinas
So when I close my eyes
I see only profound thoughts.
Under a night’s sky
Filled with a hundred billion stars
Is it so crazy to believe
Our paths were destined to cross?
She Felt Like Feeling Nothing by r.h. Sin
I talked about healing above, but before the healing comes the heartbreak, and this book sat deep in the pain with me. It was like a friend who understood what it felt like to love someone and have them drag you through the mud instead. It was toxic, but in those present moments, I felt like holding on because it was all I felt my worth in.
r.h. Sin is known for such poignant writing about women in relationships that aren’t good for them. I also picked this up at random while shelving books at the store, but the title immediately told me it would be something that would tug on so many heartstrings.
And I was right.
to love and not be loved in return
is the most destructive kind of love
that type of love is a love
that causes us to lose love for ourselves
Poetry books on my TBR
- Any book by Atticus
I’m sure most people have heard of this elusive poet in some form. I have yet to read his works but I’m super curious to see if it’ll have profound truths within its pages, especially the one about stars. - The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
She’s Canadian (woot woot!) and shot to such fame at such a young age. I also haven’t picked up her other books but I got this one as a gift a while back and can’t wait to dig into the ideas of growth in here. - I Wrote This For You by Iain S. Thomas
I got this book personalized, a gift from my ex, which is probably why I hadn’t read it yet. But I think I’m ready to now and this collection of poems has hardly any description to it so I’m going to have to go in blind with an open mind.
Well, that was a nice dose of honesty and vulnerability. I feel poems can really get to the heart of things like that. They cut through the outer layers straight to the heart, if only we allow them to.
Have you picked up a poetry book that you’ve enjoyed? Or is this perhaps the first time you’re intrigued enough to go take a look? Let me know in the comments below!
Down the Rabbit Hole 