Sunday, June 19, 2011

20 Poems (with Audio) by Black Poets on the Poetry Foundation Site

The Poetry Foundation web site is a massive operation with all kinds of goodies for folks into poetry. Poems, short essays, Podcasts, blog entries, news, etc. I've assembled a list of 20 poems included on the site that also have accompanying audio. Enjoy.   

Elizabeth Alexander "Race"

Elizabeth Alexander "Butter"

Elizabeth Alexander "The female seer will burn upon this pyre

Elizabeth "Apollo"

Gwendolyn Brooks "kitchenette building"

Gwendolyn Brooks “We Real Cool” 

Gwendolyn Brooks "A Sunset of the City"

Gwendolyn Brooks "A Song in the Front Yard"

Lucille Clifton "won't you celebrate with me"

Lucille Clifton "praise song"

Rita Dove "Reverie in Open Air"
 
Robert Hayden "Those Winter Sundays

Robert Hayden "Frederick Douglass"
 
Robert Hayden "Middle Passage

Terrance Hayes "The Blue Terrance"

Terrance Hayes "At Pegasus

Terrance Hayes "Cocktails with Orpheus"

Yusef Komunyakaa "Facing It"


Marilyn Nelson "Worth"

Kevin Young "The Mission"

1 comment:

Mary Rose said...

This is great! Thanks, Howard. I only wish they said if it was the author or an actor reading the particular poem (the site says sometimes it is actors). I became acquainted with Marilyn Nelson Waniek's work through Redmond's collection when I cataloged The Homeplace. I thought it was really powerful. It was so interesting to hear the poem you linked; it seemed like it was Nelson who read it from the beginning comments, and her voice was so young and soft, it was surprising to me.