this made me so happy

The Favorite Poem Project

It's a pretty simple idea: Americans talk about their favorite poems. There's a video project, where people recite their favorite poem and explain how and why they connect to it. Everything from Anna Akhmatova and Milton to "Casey at the Bat." A construction worker finding comfort and inspiration from Walt Whitman, a Boston working-class white guy reciting Gwendolyn Brooks, a Cuban-American Marine explaining his affinity for W.B. Yeats. And Supreme Court Justices and CEOs and students. You have to see the video of the Jamaican immigrant reciting Plath, when he closes his eyes and says "O love, how did you get here?" you can feel it, he gets this poem, absolutely, it's stunning. It's made me think about the poems that are important to me, and why. I predict several posts on this theme in the near future.