Below is my list of my favorite poets and recommendations of a few of their books. These poets have taught me do much about writing thought and feeling-provoking poems as well as many interesting truths about the world and those in it. Their writing is so inspiring and I'd recommend them to anyone looking to get into more modern poetry.

Christopher Poindexter

Christopher Poindexter is a bohemian poet who began writing poetry on a rebellious trip to California when he was 18. He considers himself more of an observer, trying to make sense of the human condition in all of its grit and glory. He currently has three books, Lavender, Old Soul Love, and Naked Human, all of which I would recommend. He is the poet that first got me into reading and writing poetry and his poems are beautiful and terrifying at the same time. He writes about the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.

Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur is an Indian-born Canadian poet, writer, illustrator, and performer. She immigrated to Canada as a child and has since settled in Toronto. She writes prose and poetry about beauty, pain and survival. Her poems reveal truth in the human existence and the pain and love that can be found along the way. She is a bestselling author of two books and a beloved poet in the digital age.

Upile Chisala

Born in 1994 and raised in Zomba, Malawi, writer Upile Chisala hopes to tell stories from the margins and, through her work, to help others and herself come to terms with pasts, celebrate presents, and confidently dream beautiful futures. She writes truthful, yet beautiful poetry and prose from the lens of an immigrant, African American woman.

Leah Stone

Leah Stone is a poet and memory recorder popular on Instagram for her punchy, short poems that pull at her readers’ emotions. She has one book called Dig Yourself Up, a collection of poetry and prose; a written form of self discovery. A home for those who believe in magic, and the diversity of what it means to be human in this abstract world.which Her poems always have me thinking, “Man, I wish I would have written that!” because they’re so lovely and provocative. Stone’s poems make you feel something, good or bad.

I also really enjoy the poem, Howl, by American beat poet, Allen Ginsberg. Howl is seen as a game-changer primarily because it expressed for the first time a modern psychological angst, an urban existence fueled by drugs, jazz, sex, travel, and expansion of the mind. Love or hate it, Howl is important because it is of urban birth, the language simultaneously surreal and vulgar, jazzy and foul, yet full of real life, sensitivity and hope. Today Howl is acknowledged as a literary classic in the sense that it broke through cultural barriers, challenged establishment and encapsulated the anger and frustrations of a generation.

Another favorite poem of mine is actually a found poem from the more than 150 years’ old seminal scientific text, Gray’s Anatomy, by Henry Gray. I stumbled on this poem from a LinkedIn Slide Share slideshow, by Christopher Anthony Leibow, called Grays’ Anatomy: The Poems. I’ve included the screenshot of the poem below as well as the link to the slideshow.

What do you think of these poets? Do you read Poindexter, Chisala, or Kaur? Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail photo by Andres Molina.

—Payton