In 2021, National Poetry Month celebrated its 25th anniversary. To honor the milestone, the Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the Academy of American Poets, invited three contemporary poets to recite a work that helps them find solace in the face of loss, isolation, and social upheaval. Brought to life by their readings and by award-winning artist Sindha Agha’s visual interpretations, these video poems remind us that language and art can connect us to our shared humanity—especially during our most challenging times.
Explore the video poems—and the voices behind them—in the content below.
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Muriel Rukeyser
Video: “Poem (I lived during the first century of wars)”