5 Short Poems To Read Today

Sometimes, we're in a hurry. And that's okay––but don't forget about your daily dose of poetry! A wise professor once told me that the only way to be a great poet is to read a lot of poetry. And I mean, a lot. And you know, she was 100% correct. The more poetry I read, the better I write. The more inspired I am when I sit down with pen and paper, AND the more I notice in the world around me.

So, are you ready to squeeze in some poetry? I've grabbed 5 great poems that'll take you about a minute to read and a lifetime to digest. Writing short is harder than it looks, folks. (Try starting with the Haiku if you're interesting in trying to pare down your poems. Read all about Haikus by clicking here. Or, if you're feeling fancy, read all about Tankas––a cousin of the Haiku––by clicking here.)

via memegenerator.net

Truth: there is a Sponge-Bob meme for every occasion.

The Poetry

1. The Jewel

There is this cave
In the air behind my body
That nobody is going to touch:
A cloister, a silence
Closing around a blossom of fire.
When I stand upright in the wind,
My bones turn to dark emeralds.

-James Wright

2. My life closed twice before its close (96)

My life closed twice before its close––

It yet remains to see

If Immortality unveil

A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive

As these that twice befell.

Parting is all we know of heaven,

And all we need of hell.

-Emily Dickinson

3. Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

-Robert Frost

4. Alba

As cool as the pale wet leaves 
      of lily-of-the-valley
She lay beside me in the dawn. 

-Ezra Pound

5. In Love and In War

To my daughter I will say,

'when the men come, set yourself

   on fire'.

-Warsan Shire

That's all for today! Got some more time on your hands? Check out our top 6 spoken word poems, or our most recent roundup of poetry we've been reading. Until next time: happy reading, and happy writing!