Just some poems I like, arranged thematically
ABILITY
“Even with Insects” by Kobayashi Issa.
“Strategy” by Archilochus
ABSENCE
“Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayman.
“Shu is Away” Anonymous.
AGING
"Autumn Poem" by Emily Dickinson
ANGER
“May He Lose His Way on the Cold Sea” by Archilochus
ANIMALS
“The Bat” by Theodore Roethke
"The Bear" by David Fisher
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The Eagle” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"February" by Margaret Atwood
“The Gazelle” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“The Gray Squirrel” by Humbert Wolfe
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
“The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“Strategy” by Archilochus
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
ART REPRESENTING LIFE
"Tapestry" by John Ashbery
AUTUMN
"Autumn Poem" by Emily Dickinson
BAD DAYS
“Radio” by Laurel Blossom
"Worst Day Ever?" by Chanie Gorkin
BATS
“The Bat” by Theodore Roethke
BEARS
"The Bear" by David Fisher
BEAUTY
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
BIRDS
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
The Eagle” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
The Beautiful, Striped Sparrow" by Mary Oliver
“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats
CATS
"February" by Margaret Atwood
CHRISTMAS
“Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree” by George Starbuck
“The Christmas Letter” by John N. Norris
“[little tree]” by E.E. Cummings
DAYS
"Days" by Philip Larkin
DEATH
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
"The Call" by Charlotte Mew
“The Dead” by Billy Collins
“Death is Before Me Today” Anonymous.
"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas.
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Last Poems 10" by Rabindranath Tagore
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
“Otherwise” by Jane Kenyon
“Sunlight on the Garden” by Louis Macniece
DOGS
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
DREAMS/NIGHTMARES
"Little Bad Dream Charm" by Kathy Fagan
EPITAPHS
“Epitaph: Justice” by Theocritus
“The Maltese Dog” by Tymnes
FAREWELL/SEPARATION
“The Farewell” by Edward Field
"Breakfast" by Jacques Prevert
FAME
“Dilemma” by David Budbill
FAMILY
"Child" by Sylvia Plath
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
“Our Other Sister” by Jeffrey Harrison
What For" by Garrett Hongo .
FATE
“The Murderer and Serapis” by Palladus
FEAR
“Beware” by Cydias
I’ve Never Feared” by Antipater of Thessalonica
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
FLOWERS
“The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
FOREIGN/ALIEN EXPERIENCE
"A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" by Craig Raine
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
FOREST
"Bon Courage" by Amy Gerstler
FOXES
“Strategy” by Archilochus
GAZELLES
“The Gazelle” by Rainer Maria Rilke
GIFT GIVING
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
GOD(S)
"Making the House Ready for the Lord" by Mary Oliver
GRIEF
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Long Distance II" by Tony Harrison
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
HEDGEHOGS
“Strategy” by Archilochus
HEROES
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
IDENTITY
"homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton
“I’m Nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson
“Mirror” by Sylvia Plath
INSECTS
“Even with Insects” by Kobayashi Issa.
JUSTICE
“Epitaph: Justice” by Theocritus
“I Saw a Jolly Hunter” by Charles Causley
“The Murderer and Serapis” by Palladus
LIFE
“And the days are not full enough” by Ezra Pound
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
"Days" by Philip Larkin
"The Fat Old Couple Whirling Around" by Robert Bly
“The Span of Life” by Robert Frost
"The Waking" by Theodore Roethke (a villanelle)
"Worst Day Ever?" by Chanie Gorkin
LOSS
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
"One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop (a villanelle)
“Radio” by Laurel Blossom
LONELINESS/SOLITUDE
"Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe
“Aware” by Denise Levertov
The Beautiful, Striped Sparrow" by Mary Oliver
LOVE
“Odi et Amo” by Catullus (Gaius Valerius Catullus)
MARRIAGE
“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich
MENTAL BREAKDOWN
"I felt a Funeral in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson
MOON, THE
“Full Moon and Little Frieda” by Ted Hughes
“Sad Steps” by Philip Larkin
“The Moon and the Yew Tree” by Sylvia Plath
MOTHS
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIP
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
MOVIES
“They Knew What They Wanted” by John Ashbery (found poem)
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
MUSIC
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
MURDER
“The Twa Corbies” Anonymous
MUSHROOMS
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
NATURE
“Aware” by Denise Levertov
“Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath
"Bon Courage" by Amy Gerstler
"Messenger" by Mary Oliver
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
“The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
NIGHT
“Four Glimpses of Night” by Frank Marshall Davis
PANTHERS
“The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke
PARENTING
"Child" by Sylvia Plath
“2 Mothers in a hdb playground” by Arthur Yap
POETS/POETRY
“Ars Poetica” by Achibald MacLeish
"Ars Poetica" by Blaga Dimitrova
“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins
"Judo" by Dan Brown
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
“On the Advice of Praxilla” by Aristophanes of Byzantium.
“Routine” by Arthur Guiterman
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
“Very Like a Whale” by Ogden Nash. This is a funny commentary on the poem "The Destruction of Sennacherib"
PERSPECTIVE
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
PRAYER
"Praying" by Mary Oliver
RELATIONSHIPS
“Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden” by Keith Douglas
“Lines” by Martha Collins
“Neutral Tones” by Thomas Hardy
ROUTINE
“Routine” by Arthur Guiterman
RUIN AND DECAY
“The Last Oracle from Delphi” Anonymous
SCHOOL
“Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayman.
SILENCE
"April and Silence" by Thomas Transtromer
SNAKES
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
SORROW
"The Uses of Sorrow" by Mary Oliver
SPORTS
"Analysis of Baseball" by May Swenson
SPRING
"April and Silence" by Thomas Transtromer
SQUIRRELS
“The Gray Squirrel” by Humbert Wolfe
SUMMER CAMP
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
SUPERNATURAL
“The Seven” Anonymous
SURVIVAL
“Mercenary” by Archilochus
TRAINS
"To a Locomotive in Winter" by Walt Whitman
TREES
"When I Am Among the Trees" by Mary Oliver
WAR
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
“The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron
“Mercenary” by Archilochus
“Strategy” by Archilochus
WATERFALLS
"Elk River Falls" by Billy Collins
WILD WEST, THE
“Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” by Margaret Atwood
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
“Tombstone Library” by Richard Hill
WINTER
"February" by Margaret Atwood
"The Call" by Charlotte Mew
WISDOM
“Quis Multa Gracilis” by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
YOUTH
“The Summer I was Sixteen” by Geraldine Connolly
“Quis Multa Gracilis” by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
ABILITY
“Even with Insects” by Kobayashi Issa.
“Strategy” by Archilochus
ABSENCE
“Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayman.
“Shu is Away” Anonymous.
AGING
"Autumn Poem" by Emily Dickinson
ANGER
“May He Lose His Way on the Cold Sea” by Archilochus
ANIMALS
“The Bat” by Theodore Roethke
"The Bear" by David Fisher
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The Eagle” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"February" by Margaret Atwood
“The Gazelle” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“The Gray Squirrel” by Humbert Wolfe
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
“The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“Strategy” by Archilochus
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
ART REPRESENTING LIFE
"Tapestry" by John Ashbery
AUTUMN
"Autumn Poem" by Emily Dickinson
BAD DAYS
“Radio” by Laurel Blossom
"Worst Day Ever?" by Chanie Gorkin
BATS
“The Bat” by Theodore Roethke
BEARS
"The Bear" by David Fisher
BEAUTY
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
BIRDS
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
The Eagle” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“The hen and the oriole” by Don Marquis
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
The Beautiful, Striped Sparrow" by Mary Oliver
“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats
CATS
"February" by Margaret Atwood
CHRISTMAS
“Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree” by George Starbuck
“The Christmas Letter” by John N. Norris
“[little tree]” by E.E. Cummings
DAYS
"Days" by Philip Larkin
DEATH
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
"The Call" by Charlotte Mew
“The Dead” by Billy Collins
“Death is Before Me Today” Anonymous.
"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas.
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Last Poems 10" by Rabindranath Tagore
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
“Otherwise” by Jane Kenyon
“Sunlight on the Garden” by Louis Macniece
DOGS
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
DREAMS/NIGHTMARES
"Little Bad Dream Charm" by Kathy Fagan
EPITAPHS
“Epitaph: Justice” by Theocritus
“The Maltese Dog” by Tymnes
FAREWELL/SEPARATION
“The Farewell” by Edward Field
"Breakfast" by Jacques Prevert
FAME
“Dilemma” by David Budbill
FAMILY
"Child" by Sylvia Plath
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
“Our Other Sister” by Jeffrey Harrison
What For" by Garrett Hongo .
FATE
“The Murderer and Serapis” by Palladus
FEAR
“Beware” by Cydias
I’ve Never Feared” by Antipater of Thessalonica
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
FLOWERS
“The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
FOREIGN/ALIEN EXPERIENCE
"A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" by Craig Raine
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
FOREST
"Bon Courage" by Amy Gerstler
FOXES
“Strategy” by Archilochus
GAZELLES
“The Gazelle” by Rainer Maria Rilke
GIFT GIVING
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
GOD(S)
"Making the House Ready for the Lord" by Mary Oliver
GRIEF
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Long Distance II" by Tony Harrison
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
HEDGEHOGS
“Strategy” by Archilochus
HEROES
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
IDENTITY
"homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton
“I’m Nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson
“Mirror” by Sylvia Plath
INSECTS
“Even with Insects” by Kobayashi Issa.
JUSTICE
“Epitaph: Justice” by Theocritus
“I Saw a Jolly Hunter” by Charles Causley
“The Murderer and Serapis” by Palladus
LIFE
“And the days are not full enough” by Ezra Pound
"Cormorants" by Mary Oliver
"Days" by Philip Larkin
"The Fat Old Couple Whirling Around" by Robert Bly
“The Span of Life” by Robert Frost
"The Waking" by Theodore Roethke (a villanelle)
"Worst Day Ever?" by Chanie Gorkin
LOSS
"In Memory of" by Giuseppe Ungaretti
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
"One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop (a villanelle)
“Radio” by Laurel Blossom
LONELINESS/SOLITUDE
"Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe
“Aware” by Denise Levertov
The Beautiful, Striped Sparrow" by Mary Oliver
LOVE
“Odi et Amo” by Catullus (Gaius Valerius Catullus)
MARRIAGE
“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich
MENTAL BREAKDOWN
"I felt a Funeral in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson
MOON, THE
“Full Moon and Little Frieda” by Ted Hughes
“Sad Steps” by Philip Larkin
“The Moon and the Yew Tree” by Sylvia Plath
MOTHS
"Very Large Moth" by Craig Arnold
CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIP
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
MOVIES
“They Knew What They Wanted” by John Ashbery (found poem)
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
MUSIC
"Mozart, for Example" by Mary Oliver
MURDER
“The Twa Corbies” Anonymous
MUSHROOMS
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
NATURE
“Aware” by Denise Levertov
“Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath
"Bon Courage" by Amy Gerstler
"Messenger" by Mary Oliver
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
“The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
NIGHT
“Four Glimpses of Night” by Frank Marshall Davis
PANTHERS
“The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke
PARENTING
"Child" by Sylvia Plath
“2 Mothers in a hdb playground” by Arthur Yap
POETS/POETRY
“Ars Poetica” by Achibald MacLeish
"Ars Poetica" by Blaga Dimitrova
“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins
"Judo" by Dan Brown
“News of Your Death” by Callimachus
“On the Advice of Praxilla” by Aristophanes of Byzantium.
“Routine” by Arthur Guiterman
“To a Swallow” by Euenos
“Very Like a Whale” by Ogden Nash. This is a funny commentary on the poem "The Destruction of Sennacherib"
PERSPECTIVE
“Dog” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath
PRAYER
"Praying" by Mary Oliver
RELATIONSHIPS
“Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden” by Keith Douglas
“Lines” by Martha Collins
“Neutral Tones” by Thomas Hardy
ROUTINE
“Routine” by Arthur Guiterman
RUIN AND DECAY
“The Last Oracle from Delphi” Anonymous
SCHOOL
“Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayman.
SILENCE
"April and Silence" by Thomas Transtromer
SNAKES
"The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver
SORROW
"The Uses of Sorrow" by Mary Oliver
SPORTS
"Analysis of Baseball" by May Swenson
SPRING
"April and Silence" by Thomas Transtromer
SQUIRRELS
“The Gray Squirrel” by Humbert Wolfe
SUMMER CAMP
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
SUPERNATURAL
“The Seven” Anonymous
SURVIVAL
“Mercenary” by Archilochus
TRAINS
"To a Locomotive in Winter" by Walt Whitman
TREES
"When I Am Among the Trees" by Mary Oliver
WAR
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
“The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron
“Mercenary” by Archilochus
“Strategy” by Archilochus
WATERFALLS
"Elk River Falls" by Billy Collins
WILD WEST, THE
“Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” by Margaret Atwood
“Sidekicks” by Ronald Koertge
“Tombstone Library” by Richard Hill
WINTER
"February" by Margaret Atwood
"The Call" by Charlotte Mew
WISDOM
“Quis Multa Gracilis” by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
YOUTH
“The Summer I was Sixteen” by Geraldine Connolly
“Quis Multa Gracilis” by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks