A Poem for Every Night of the Year Edited by Allie Esiri

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This collection has a great range of poetic styles, and I think would be very accessible, and I like the habit these sort of book help form of regularly reading poems.

I will share just one of the poems... 

 

The Hurt Boy and the Birds by John Agard 

 

The hurt boy talked to the birds
and fed them the crumbs of his heart.
 
It was not easy to find the words
for secrets he hid under his skin.
The hurt boy spoke of a bully's fist
that made his face a bruised moon –
his spectacles stamped to ruin.
 
It was not easy to find the words
for things that nightly hissed
as if his pillow was a hideaway for creepy-crawlies –
the note sent to the girl he fancied
held high in mockery.
 
But the hurt boy talked to the birds
and their feathers gave him welcome –
 
Their wings taught him new ways to become.