Six poems I taught my 9th grade students

reminiscing on my classroom days during National Poetry Month

I used to feel a little guilty that, even as a former English teacher, I rarely read poetry outside of April—but now I’m satisfied with using the month of poetry celebration as a reminder to pick up a new collection or revisit old favorites. A few nights ago, I stacked up Instructions for Traveling West by

Joy Sullivan

, Counting Descent by Clint Smith, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay on my nightstand. I’m hoping to read two out of three, but in the next couple of weeks I’m also casting my net for more serendipitous poetry: the poems shared on Instagram or in Substack Notes, a quick flip through one of the other collections on my shelf, or indulging in memories from my teaching days.

Today I’m sharing six poems attached to special classroom memories. These are the poems I returned to year after year in my 9th grade English classroom because they sparked vibrant discussion and excited my students. They had something new to offer every time I returned to them; I was never bored by the prospect of re-using poems for my yearly poetry unit.

I know poetry can be intimidating, largely because many of us were taught to unlock the secret meaning of a poem, and then we were graded accordingly. I hated poetry until I had the chance to teach it in a completely different way. If you’re feeling the itch to participate in National Poetry Month, I encourage you to read a poem without worrying about “getting it.” This handful of poems is a great place to start.

Six Poems I Never Tire Of

Eating Poetry by Mark Strand

Oranges by Gary Soto

Theme for English B by Langston Hughes

If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

Oh, and just a few more…

• A poem for weary parents: Good Bones by Maggie Smith

• Poems for springtime:

  • Fides, Spes by Willa Cather

  • Dandelions by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

  • Instructions On Not Giving Up by Ada Limon

  • After the Winter by Claude McKay

• In case you need more convincing to read one of the above poems,

  Sara Hildreth
  offers three reasons to read poetry.

I would, of course, love to see your favorite poems or your hang-ups about poetry in the comments.