Last December I saw a poet (hint hint, the first poet on this list) perform live and he said something along the lines of, "I get to have feelings for a living." If that's not the perfect definition of poetry, I don't know what is.
April is National Poetry Month and because I'm a longtime love of poetry, I got a little overzealous about the whole thing. Here are some of my favorite poets, spoken word and not, who make me feel alive every time I experience their words.
1. Neil Hilborn
Neil Hilborn gained a following almost five years ago when his poem "OCD" went viral. Since then, he's put out multiple gems like this one and just saw the release of his second collection, "The Future", in March. A lot of Neil's work focuses on the reality of living with a mental illness and the love and loss that surrounds it.
I had the privilege of seeing Neil perform live last December and every word he spoke moved mountains within the room. With how powerful his words are on screen, you can imagine what it's like to hear them in person.
2. Sierra DeMulder
Sierra DeMulder was one of the first spoken word poets I really got into. A lot of her pieces address topics like womanhood, sexual assault, love, and survivorship. Sierra handles these heavy topics with power and grace and delivers them in a way that is both vulnerable and strong.
One of my favorite things about Sierra's work is how well it works both spoken and written. Her most recent collection, "Today Means Amen," borrows the title of another of my favorites by her and is worth one, two, or ten reads.
3. Sharon Olds
Sharon Olds has been killing it since 1980 with the release of her first collection, (and my personal favorite), "Satan Says." Unlike the other poets on this list, Sharon focuses primarily on the written word and plays with topics such as womanhood, sex, and family.
There's a line in Olds' title piece of her collection "Satan Says" that reads, "I love them but / I'm trying to say what happened to us / in the lost past." I don't think this line (or Sharon) needs any further explanation.
4. Blythe Baird
I first discovered Blythe Baird a couple of years ago when her poem "When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny" started circulating the Internet. Her musings tend to hit on areas such as mental illness (specifically eating disorders), sexuality, and feminism.
Blythe's openness with her story shines through the words she writes and allows every line to pack a punch to her listener.
5. Olivia Gatwood
Famous for her "Ode to _" poems, Olivia Gatwood delivers unapologetically pointed pieces addressed to some of the greatest problems facing society. Olivia saw the release of her first collection, "New American Best Friend" in 2017, in which she continues to tackle issues such as sexual assault and womanhood.
Olivia's poetry is confrontational yet non-threatening and leaves her reader without a choice but to listen to what she's saying.
6. Sam Sax
Like Sharon Olds, Sam Sax tends to stick to the page instead of the stage. A flip through his latest collection "Madness" will reveal frankly chaotic pieces that perfectly reflect the kind of chaos he writes about— addiction, mental illness, sexuality, chronic disease, and much more.
Sam's words will reach in and nag at you for weeks following one read of his work. One of my favorite lines from his latest collection is "anything can be a drug if you love it."
7. Kevin Kantor
Kevin Kantor is above all else a performance poet. While their words read beautifully on the page, they take on a different life when delivered on the stage. Kevin's first collection, "Endowing Vegetables With Too Much Meaning" is a breathtaking work of art that reflects on sexuality, sexual assault, self-harm, and much more.
Kevin was another poet I was lucky enough to see perform live. Each poem held the kind of power and grandiosity of a Broadway production that you see once and can't get out of your mind.
