c.2026, Various publishers
$18.99-$29.99
Various page counts
In life, there are times when you want some rhymes.
Short ones or long, alone by yourself or attached to a song, rhymes you read quietly or read out-loud, savored alone or enjoyed with a crowd. It’s Poetry Month and you’re on the look, so why not seek out one of these books?
Who are you and where did you come from? “Stages” by Tramaine Suubi (Amistad, $19.99) gives you things to think about, including your inner life and what’s going on outside it. Read it, and be educated.
Place matters a lot, and “Shade is a Place” by MaKshya Tolbert (Penguin Poets, $20) is a book that considers Charlottesville, Virginia, in various ways. It invites readers to visit the “Black sense” of the city, to seek out natural parts of it, and to study the small, quiet places within. This book is perfect for vacation or if you’re thinking about travel.
If you are a new parent — or you’re about to be — look for “They Bloom Because of You” by Jessica Urlichs (Putnam, $19), a book about the ever-evolving process of becoming a mother: the love, the despair, the strengths and sadness, and watching as a newborn becomes a toddler becomes a big-kid. This is a book you’ll reach for many times over the years.
On that note, “This is Not a Small Voice” by Sonia Sanchez (Beacon Press, $18.99) is a book that tackles a wide variety of topics: love and community, as well as activism and family. Readers will absolutely note the urgent power in these poems, and they might make you want to get out and do something.
If the Sanchez book is right up your alley, then you’ll also want “We (The People of the United States)” by Joshua Bennett (Penguin Poets, $20), one long book-length poem that touches upon many aspects of American life over the past century or so. Black culture, scientific innovation, popular music, creativity, whatever made America good — and bad — is in this book. The semiquincentennial is coming soon, so read it now.
And finally, if you want to know more about poets, then look for “No More Worlds to Conquer: The Black Poet in Washington D.C.” by Brian Gilmore (Georgetown University Press, $29.95). In this book, you’ll read about a thriving literary community that Gilmore says is often overlooked but that’s just as vibrant as any other in America. Filled with interviews, it’s deeply researched, and nicely comprehensive, making it a book you’ll absolutely want to have next to your poetry collection. Tackle it in between reading poetry; you won’t be sorry.
If these books are good but they’re not enough, if you want other poems and rhyming stuff, if you’ve got some rhymes but you need more, then head to your library or local bookstore. The staffs there are good, they’ll put books in your hands, they’ll put rhymes in your head and they’ll make you a fan. Or find these books, above, for their timing then sit down and read, and happy rhyming.