The Academy of American poets first inaugurated National Poetry Month in 1996 in order to call attention to poetry and its place within our culture. This wiki will feature all kinds of poetry and resources that you can check out as well as updates on our very own upcoming poetry celebration on April 30th.

Theme for English B by Langston Hughes

    The instructor said,

    Go home and write
    a page tonight.
    And let that page come out of you--
    Then, it will be true.

   I wonder if it's that simple?
   I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
   I went to school there, then Durham, then here
   to this college on the hill above Harlem.
   I am the only colored student in my class.
   The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
   through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
   Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
   the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
   up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

   It's not easy to know what is true for you or me 
   at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what 
   I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
   hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
   (I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
   Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
   I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
   I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
   or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
   I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
   the same things other folks like who are other races.
   So will my page be colored that I write?

   Being me, it will not be white. 
   But it will be
   a part of you, instructor. 
   You are white-- 
   yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. 
   That's American.
   Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me. 
   Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
   But we are, that's true! 
   As I learn from you, 
   I guess you learn from me-- 
   although you're older--and white-- 
   and somewhat more free.

   This is my page for English B.

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Knopf and Vintage Books. Copyright © 1994

Here's a video of the numerous Poetry Festivals that BHS has had over the years as well as some photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aupf8-Iq_QE

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April 30th!!! Location: Brookline Booksmith, Coolidge Corner.

Doors open at 6:30PM for refreshments. Poetry readings will begin at 7pm. Students, administrators, faculty and staff are all welcome to read their poetry. Marjorie Agosin, our featured poet for the evening, will kick-off the evening with her poetry.

Marjorie Agosin [1] will be the featured poet at Brookline High's Poetry Fest. She is a Wellesley College Professor of Spanish, a human rights activist and an internationally recognized poet. In 1995, she won the Latino Literature Prize for her book of poetry, Toward the Splendid City.

Published Poetry Collections

Starry Night

The Angel of Memory

Among the Angels of Memory

Conchali

Bonfires

Circles of Madness: Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo

Rain in the Desert

Dear Anne Frank: poems

The library contains many poetry collections that you may want to check out.

The Best Poems of the English Language selected and with commentary by Harold Bloom. (821.008 Bes)

Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits (811.6 Gra)

Blushing: Expressions of Love in Poems and Letters compiled by Paul B. Janeczko (821.008 Blu)

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson (811 Nel)

I Don't Want To Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz (811.6 Sch)

101 Great American Poems: An Anthology edited by American Poetry & Literacy Project (811 Gre)

19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye (811.54 Nye)

Tour America: A Journey Through Poetry and Art by Diane Siebert (811.54 Sie)

Poems of Emily Dickinson (811.5 Dic)

Poetry of Sylvia Plath (811 Mel)

Book of Blues by Jack Kerouac (811 Ker)

The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (818.309 Poe)

Who Will Cry For the Little Boy?: Poems by Antwone Quenton Fisher (811 Fis)

The Woman I Kept To Myself: Poems by Julia Alvarez (811 Alv)

Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins (811 Col)

Harlem: a poem by Walter Dean Myers (811 Mye)

Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry edited by Gary Mex Glazner (811 Poe)

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems On Growing Up Latino in the United States edited by Lori M. Carlson (811 Coo)

The Academy of American Poets has a variety of poetry listed according to genre and a large volume of mini bios of poets. http://www.poets.org/index.html

The Poetry Foundation contains all kinds of new poetry, podcasts and even a blog. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

The Library of Congress has information about poetry, the current Poet Laureate, as well as webcasts, news and events. http://www.loc.gov/poetry/