Favorite poets?

I have always loved poetry...the flow of words, the lyrical sounds of phrases, and the creative, innovative way that thoughts, ideas, observations can be expressed. I have been writing poems since I was a little girl...phrases, snippets, jottings. When I initially began writing, I followed traditional conventions: rhyming, specific stanza lengths, etc - but as I evolved my poetry became free of typical conventions; and I just let it flow. My writings are the physical manifestation of spirit moving through me...I write as the voices speak to me. 

poetry

Copyright (c) 2012 Helen Tinsley

this is not a poem

not as in metaphorical language or rhythmic phrases

not as in rhyming, haiku or I love you’s

not as in compare, contrast or describe.

no, this is not a poem in the usual sense of the word,

not as in typical style, form or genre

not as in lines or stanzas.

so what is poetry?

is it traditional structure & obedience to form

following conventions & predictability?

no that’s not what poetry should be.

poetry should be…

words rolling off the poets tongue,

penetrating the ear, mind & heart of the listener

poetry should touch the soul, move mountains & change the world

poetry should tell the stories, energize, agitate & educate

& move people to reconcilate & eliminate hate

poetry is cosmic energy in words

poetry is the divine expression 

of the creator in literary form

poetry makes connections to the crossed over souls

& utters ideas from ancestors of long ago

poetry celebrates legacies, questions stories 

& dreams of possibilities in an infinite world. 

poetry is power…poetry is life

My love of poetry developed through my exposure to Black poets during the early years of the Black revolutionary movement Some of my favorite poets are: Zora Neale Hurston, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez, Maya Angelou, Haki Madhubuti, Gil Scott Heron, Alice Walker, Tupac Shakur - yes Tupac was a poet :-) , Pablo Neruda, Lucille Clifton, Ursula Rucker....and many others I can't call to mind this very moment :-)

Who are your favorite poets?