One of my favorite pieces is “Beauty School.” I love the way Alice Fulton compares lyrical poetry to Miles Davis: “you don’t have to write your poem every day. You just have to touch your poem every day.” This collection is filled with dark beauty with music poetry for your reading pleasure.

In O, Zeina Hashem Beck addresses white critic in both English and Arabic. She writes, “If I told you these words are not in English, would you believe me?” I am not a white critic or a poetry critic for that matter. I am just a novice poetry reader and I don’t understand most of her poems. That’s OK. I read them with curiosity whether in English or Arabic.

I read the entire collection. I had some vague understanding of the works, but I couldn’t pick out anything to share. Another day, another book of poetry red. Moving to the next one.

In her intimate collection of poems, Taneum Bambrick shares personal stories of sex, heartbreak, and rape. Bambrick is a brilliant lyricist and storyteller. I read the book twice and jotted down few favorites to share.

I am ashamed to confess that I had to read Truyện Kiều in English in order to understand Nguyễn Du’s epic poem—thanks to the skillful translation from Vương Thanh. I tried to read Vietnamese several times, but I gave up on the poetic language. Now that I know the story, I will go back to read Vietnamese.

You can read both the original version as well as the English translation right on a sample webpage I designed to showcase Vietnamese typography. I took 6,508 lines of poetry (Vietnamese and English) and put them all in one single webpage. That is the power of the web. I read it on my iPhone, but you can read it on any of your favorite device.

Crystal Wilkinson’s Perfect Black is a powerful, approachable collection. From family to racism to food, Wilkinson writes with an authoritative Black voice. I digged a handful of her poems, but “Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts” is such a mouth-watering essay on food. I also love the typesetting and illustrations in this book.

I didn’t get most of the poems. I am not sure what to make of them. I don’t have the words to describe them. I just couldn’t connect. Maybe I should reread the series again.

I didn’t understand much from this collection. Though I enjoyed “To My Mother’s Father.” McCrae’s writing requires slow reading and re-reading. I tend to just read through them to find something I can share on my blog.

A sensual, emotional collection, Ama Codjoe’s Bluest Nude delves into sex, grief, and beauty. Her writing is descriptive, provocative, and yet accessible. I understand and love quite a few pieces in here.

Another collection from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author I couldn’t understand. I was just reading words and couldn’t make sense of the poems. My poetry reading is not improving. I love the typesetting though.