55 Best Poems About Life
November 21, 2024
I don鈥檛 know about you, but lately, I鈥檝e found myself turning to poetry for inspiration and assurance. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, prose has its place, but the connection that poetry forges between the writer and reader is unlike anything else. If you鈥檙e feeling the weight of the world, here are 55 poems about life to help you face the day.听
(If you鈥檙e looking for prose, here鈥檚 a list with fiction, some nonfiction, and some memoirs. And if you enjoy listening to your literature, check out the 101 Best Audiobooks of All Time.)
55 Best Poems About Life
1. 鈥�,鈥� by Margaret Atwood
Atwood uses the metaphor of a burned house to explore loss and grief. Though the house is gone, the memory of things remains, in her words, 鈥渋ncandescent.鈥澛�
2) “,鈥� by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Part travelogue, part meditation on parenthood, Nezhukumatathil imagines the iterations of maternity in nature and wonders at the common hum of life.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
3) 鈥�,鈥� by Elizabeth Bishop
In a dizzying exploration of a single moment in time, Bishop鈥檚 nearly seven-year-old narrator reads a National Geographic and feels the pressure of age, gender, and culture.听
4) 鈥�,鈥� by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
A legend of the San Francisco poetry scene, Ferlinghetti鈥檚 poem mines the tension between misery and joy. Whatever our choices, we can鈥檛 escape the 鈥渟miling mortician鈥� who awaits us at the end.听
5) 鈥�,鈥� by Jamaal May
A meditation on war, May鈥檚 poem is an incantatory spell against the violence that too often defines our world.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
6) 鈥�,鈥� by Margaret Walker
Walker鈥檚 poem calls to the generations of Black Americans who have defied the structural violence of the US. She asks that a new generation arise and take control.听
7) 鈥�,鈥� by Jericho Brown
Brown uses the pandemic as a way to interrogate the way Black Americans have to navigate a society that would denigrate them and abrogate any responsibility. From this, Brown finds a measure of hope in community and family.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
8) 鈥�,鈥� by Claudia Rankine
Rankine (best known for her book, ) delivers an impressionistic meditation on the impact of true empathy.听
9) 鈥�,鈥� by Jane Hirshfield
Hirschfield鈥檚 poem asks that we think of the future generations that will judge our actions. She resolves that what we do should guide those that come after us, our actions burning like 鈥淎 kerosene beauty.鈥澛�
10) 鈥�,鈥� by Yona Harvey
Partly a poem about motherhood and partly a poem about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Harvey鈥檚 poem summons the ghost of a community to shepherd and save.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
11) 鈥�,鈥� by Maggie Smith
, Smith鈥檚 poem is as achingly poignant as ever. Though the world is a dark place, Smith insists that somehow, 鈥淵ou could make this place beautiful.鈥澛�
12) 鈥�.鈥� by Andrea Gibson
Gibson weaves a powerful spell using the most unexpected images. Her chemotherapy becomes a site of remembrance and transformation.听
13) 鈥�,鈥� by Marwa Helal
In its jumps and ruptures, Helal鈥檚 poem tries to situate the emergence of the self vis-a-vis the beautiful.
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
14) 鈥�,鈥� by Brandon Shimoda
The border between self and other is whisper-thin in Shimoda鈥檚 poem. Mothers, subways, and eternity mix to make a transcendent whole.听
15) 鈥�,鈥� by Joanna Klink
Writing to welcome the birth of a friend鈥檚 baby, Klink catalogs the beauty of the world 鈥� 鈥渂icycles鈥olors鈥histles and cardinals that pin the cold snow.鈥�
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
16) 鈥�,鈥� by June Jordan
Considering the violence done to her community, Jordan resolves to challenge those that would oppress, maim, and kill. She will, in short, 鈥渂ecome a menace to [her] enemies.鈥澛�
17) 鈥�,鈥� by Sonia Sanchez
In this paean to Black Genius, Sanchez praises that 鈥�love colored with iron and lace.鈥� In a world that would minimize Black culture, Sanchez insists on its importance.听
18) 鈥�,鈥� by Rita Dove
Dove navigates the cliched expressions around the human heart to find some genuine expression of wholeness and certainty.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
19) 鈥�,鈥� by Phillis Wheatley
The first Black person to publish a book in America, Wheatley鈥檚 poem calls out the racism of white society. In this poem, she insists on the moral equality of Black people and asks for the attendant respect.听聽
20) 鈥�,鈥� by Terrance Howard
In this poem, Howard reimagines the emotional and sociological significance of the word 鈥渟pades鈥� in order to reaffirm Black solidarity.听
21) 鈥�,鈥� by Robert Hayden
Written in the 1940s but not published until the 1960s, Hayden鈥檚 poem was one of the first to use an experimental aesthetic to confront the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
22) 鈥�.鈥� by Donika Kelly
In Kelly鈥檚 poem, the narrator tries out the refrain 鈥淚 am in love鈥� on inanimate objects. The poem summons the rough hope that this utterance will enlarge the possibilities of affection.听
23) 鈥�,鈥� by Ross Gay
This poem offers up the joy of hearing a child laugh as you throw them up into the air. As such, it shows the little gifts we can give each other in dark times.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
24) 鈥�,鈥� by Kim Addonizio
Written for her daughter, Addonizio鈥檚 poem plumbs the depths of motherhood. When it returns to the surface, it finds the beauty of her child still whole.听
25) 鈥�,鈥� by Alicia Ostriker
Ostriker鈥檚 poem wonders at the complicity of the lyric voice 鈥� how much of our sadness we give to those who 鈥渄rink lamentation鈥ike wine.鈥澛�
26) 鈥�,鈥� by Paul Celan
Celan鈥檚 poetry is a sustained attempt to come to terms with the violence of the Holocaust. In this poem, Celan casts an ambivalent eye on the power of dream.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
27) 鈥�,鈥� by Natasha Trethewey
The Black narrator of this poem wrestles with the ethical consequences of passing. On the one hand, she has unimaginable opportunities, on the other, she feels the weight of culture and expectation.听
28) 鈥�,鈥� by Noelle Kocot
A surrealist take on the project of writing, Kocot鈥檚 poem wanders through the banal in search of some 鈥渁ustere justice.鈥�
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
29) 鈥�,鈥� by Harryette Mullen
In this poem, the narrator offers up a stream of justifications for their isolation 鈥� 鈥淲hat can I tell you? I forgot what I was going to say.鈥� Mullen鈥檚 narrator taps into the overwhelm of modern life.听
30) 鈥�,鈥� by Anne Sexton
One of the great voices of so-called 鈥渃onfessional poetry,鈥� Sexton writes poems that hope to assuage the dead.听
31) 鈥�,鈥� by Lisa Jarnot
Jarnot鈥檚 poem balances the tenuousness of life, love, and the enormity of the world outside our hearts.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
32) 鈥�,鈥� by Kevin Young
As a desperate 鈥渢elegram鈥� to a doomed artist, Young鈥檚 poem reaches for the past and explores the limits of helping those we love.听
33) 鈥�,鈥� by Ray Young Bear
Ray Young Bear鈥檚 poem explores the power of stories and the ongoing debt we owe to our ancestors.听
34) 鈥�,鈥� by V茅nus Khoury-Ghata
Khoury-Ghata presents a widow navigating a world bereft of sense. After ten days of visions, she finds her way back, a changed woman.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
35) 鈥�,鈥� by Prageeta Sharma
Dislocation reigns supreme in this poem by Prageeta Sharma. The narrator and an unnamed interlocutor find their way back to each other.听
36) 鈥�,鈥� by Marie Howe
A death seems to haunt Howe鈥檚 poem. By the end, the narrator rediscovers the violent wonder of living.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
37) 鈥�,鈥� by Louise 骋濒眉肠办
mediates on the possibility of some pre-lapsarian state where one can open to the sun without shame.听
38) 鈥�,鈥� by Ada Lim贸n
From our current poet laureate, this poem locates some small optimism in the greening leaves that burst forth after winter.听聽
39) 鈥�,鈥� by Rena Priest
The history of colonialism lurks behind Priest鈥檚 ominous 鈥淭he Index.鈥� Ultimately, the narrator suggests that the meek should start 鈥減utting aside our meekness.鈥澛�
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
40) 鈥�,鈥� by Naomi Shahib Nye
鈥淓mpty鈥� asserts an agnostic refusal to look on (and thus defile) someone鈥檚 unique definition of beauty.听
41) 鈥�,鈥� by Maya Angelou
Angelou鈥檚 poem fashions a declarative chorus of 鈥淚 rise,鈥� and manages to refute the structural oppression of America鈥檚 racist history.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
42) 鈥�,鈥� Emma Lazarus
Lazarus鈥� poem is engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty. As such, this poem might be the most famous poem in America. At the same time, her insistence that we welcome the 鈥渉uddled masses yearning to breathe free鈥� seems to have been forgotten.听
43) 鈥�,鈥� by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
The poem reimagines the revolutionary potential of a disabled body. In 鈥檚 poem, the future is present in every touch of another.听聽
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
44) 鈥�,鈥� by Ocean Vuong
Vuong鈥檚 poem asserts the power of love 鈥� his grandmother鈥檚 kiss 鈥� over the trauma of war and violence.听
45) 鈥�,鈥� by Ada Lim贸n
As our current poet laureate, I thought Lim贸n deserved two poems on this list. The narrator in this poem wonders at the power of the present in the face of imminent disaster.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
46) 鈥�,鈥� by Ada Lim贸n
Dawkins鈥� poem considers the miracle of birth and sees only the blood and ache of the female body.听
47) 鈥�,鈥� by Ada Lim贸n
Fiercely incantatory, Tamez鈥檚 poem asserts the righteous anger of an indigenous woman against the structures of colonial power.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
48) 鈥�,鈥� by Evie Shockley
Responding to the question 鈥� 鈥淲hy write poetry? 鈥� Shockley鈥檚 poem concludes that 鈥淧oetry might not change the world, but it might change you.鈥澛�
49) 鈥�,鈥� by Helene Achanzar
Achanzar鈥檚 poem charts the events of a day with a friend 鈥� joy, anger, and laughter.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
50) 鈥�,鈥� by Nathamlie Handal
Handal鈥檚 poem mediates on the divisions of the self and the sordid imposition on the world.听
51) 鈥�,鈥� by m.s. RedCherries
An aching address to her mother, RedCherries鈥� poem reaches for a time when the ones we love were still close to us.听
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
52) 鈥�,鈥� by Allison Albino
Albino鈥檚 poem conjures the sensuousness of food and links it to desire 鈥� both cultural and romantic.听
53) 鈥�,鈥� by Omotara James
Though the narrator of James鈥� poem acknowledges the chasm between her and her mother, they share a bond that cannot be broken. The poem ends, 鈥渟he鈥檚 worried for my heart while I鈥檓 worried for my heart.鈥澛�
Best Poems About Life (Continued)
54) 鈥�,鈥� by Cynthia Cruz
The body takes center stage in Cruz鈥檚 poem about the difference between the interior self and the exterior meat suit.听
55) 鈥溾�� by Cynthia Hogue
Hogue provides an eloquent gloss on this poem. She writes, 鈥淭he cure the poem discovers is in the transformative capacity of language itself, how imagination concentrated in sound shifts the vision, if one follows it into insight.鈥�
55 Best Poems About Life – Wrapping Up
If you鈥檝e found this article interesting, I鈥檝e also written on 1984, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, and Of Mice and Men.听
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