National Poetry Month : Celebrate your favourites

As National Poetry month draws to a close, I have been reflecting on the poems that have made an impact on my life in many different ways. Some happy, some sad, and some in between with sprinklings of other; poetry is the best food for the soul. Both reading and writing in this form is a beautiful human way to show another what it means to be human. Below are 5 poems that have inspired and moved me, I would love to hear what your favourites are and why.

Hx

- One Art by Elizabeth Bishop - 

At a time when I struggled to come to terms with understanding loss, this really stood out for me. The nature of loss is expressed so casually, an art that isn't hard to master but actually what underlines the tone is the opposite, it becomes like a chant to convince ones self to keep up the facade. 

- London by William Blake - 

Not the happiest of poems but I love it's raw emotion. Blake's work freed me from the dogmatism of religion instilled in me as a child, and this is a perfect example of the anger he felt towards religious authoritarianism, laws and the failing to support the vulnerable. 

- Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare - 

I learnt the truest sense of what love is reading these words. It alters not, it is fixed, in our nature and at one with nature and when I make vows to another, this Sonnet shall be spoken. 

- Sea Fever by John Masefield - 

I am a nautical girl through and through having spent most of my childhood and adult life on Suffolk's coast. This was first introduced to me as a young girl by my father; I hear and feel the rhythm of the wind and waves wherever I am when I recite this poem.

- Take Time Out by Maya Angelou - 

There is an honest musicality in the words, like the rhythm of life. There is so much going on in the world and rarely do we look outside ourselves to what is happening around us. Connect with others, Take Time Out !