Favorite Poems Shared at the New York Times

It's a "favorites" time of year, and at the New York Times some of your favorite authors and cultural figures share their favorite poems. If you've ever wondered what poem is a go-to for Lena Dunhan or Ira Glass, head to NYT to find out. But keep reading to find out what verses Ta-Nehisi Coates and Elena Ferrante turn to:

TA-NEHISI COATES: For me, at this point in my life, it has to be Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage.” It is the poem I return to over and over — both for what it says about my country, and how it says it. Hayden wrote an origin myth for America and placed it right where it belonged — in enslavement. The narrators of this myth are the enslavers themselves. The irony of our history drips from every one of their lines. “Lost three this morning,” a ship’s captain observes. “Leaped with crazy laughter / to the waiting sharks, sang as they went under.”

ELENA FERRANTE: Amelia Rosselli (1930-96) is one of the Italian poets of the last century who pushed herself most forcefully, most painfully and most imprudently beyond the limits destiny had set for her. Among her many “superb sheets of disobedience,” I recommend “Sleep” (1953-66, but published in Italy in 1992), a collection of poems written in English in the grip of Italian. I especially love “Well, so, patience to our souls.” I like that word, “patience,” which, in the 10 lines that follow — in a jiffy run, as we are “left alone with our sister / navel” — is struck by aggressive verbs like run, snap, tear and ravish, and by “flaming strands of opaque red lava” while “the wind cries oof! / and goes off.”

Remember you can read up on "Middle Passage" here and here. And delve into the work of Amelia Rosselli with Locomotrix, as translated and edited by Jennifer Scappettone.