To celebrate 2025 楼凤天堂 Poetry Month in April, 楼凤天堂 will share a daily poem and a daily poet selected by author Charles R. Smith Jr., winner of the 2025 楼凤天堂 Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, along with a classroom prompt. Be sure to follow us on social media to get each poem as it drops, and check back here throughout the month for the cumulative, up-to-date list.
Watch this introductory message to teachers from Charles R. Smith Jr.:
Tuesday, April 1
Daily poem: 鈥�Keep a-goin鈥� by Frank Lebby Stanton
Classroom prompt: Do you like this poem? Why or why not?
Daily poet: Langston Hughes. Get resources from for teaching Langston Hughes, 鈥渁 central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, the flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that took place in the 1920s in a number of American cities, particularly Harlem.鈥�
Wednesday, April 2
Daily poem: 鈥�鈥澨齜y Rudyard Kipling
Classroom prompt: What stood out to you in this poem? Why?听
Daily poet: Nikki Giovanni. Get resources from for teaching Nikki Giovanni, 鈥渁 world-renowned poet and one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement.鈥�
Thursday, April 3
Daily poem: 鈥�鈥� by Dr. Seuss
Classroom prompt: What does this poem make you want to do?
Daily poet: Robert Frost. Get resources from 听on Frost, who, after publishing his first book around the age of 40, went on to win a record four Pulitzer Prizes.
Friday, April 4
Daily poem: by Gwendolyn Brooks
Classroom prompt: What was your favorite word from this poem? Favorite line?听
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Daily poet: Carole Boston Weatherford says her mission is to 鈥渕ine the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles that center on African American resistance, resilience, remarkability, rejoicing and remembrance.鈥� She has written more than 70 books and is the 2025-2026 Young People鈥檚 Poet Laureate. Learn more from
Saturday, April 5
Daily poem: (How do I Love Thee) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning听
Classroom prompt: Whom does this poem remind you of?听
Daily poet: Marilyn Singer loves pets; you can find several of her poems inspired by pets .
Sunday, April 6
Daily poem: 听by Quincy Troupe
Classroom prompt: What from this poem stood out to you? Why?听
Daily poet: has written numerous award-winning books for children and young adults and won many honors, including the 2006 楼凤天堂 Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
Monday, April 7
Daily poem: by Kevin Young
Classroom prompt: What do you notice about the language in this poem?
Daily poet: Joseph Bruchac is keeping his Abenaki heritage alive in the US and internationally as storyteller-in-residence for Native American schools. some of the more than 120 books 丑别鈥檚 written.听
Tuesday, April 8
Daily poem: by Edgar Allan Poe听
Classroom prompt: How does this poem move?听
Daily poet: Doug Florian. A cartoonist for the New Yorker, Doug Florian was inspired by a book of children’s poems to try his hand at poetry. Find writings from his dozens of children鈥檚 poetry books .听
Wednesday, April 9听
Daily poem: by Robert Frost听
Classroom prompt: What does this poem make you want to do?听
Daily poet: Sonia Sanchez. She became Philadelphia鈥檚 first poet laureate in 2011. Explore her other firsts and works .听
Thursday, April 10
Daily poem: by Maya Angelou
Classroom prompt:听Would you like to read more by this poet? Why? Why not?听
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Daily poet: Yusef Komunyakaa. Get resources from for teaching Yusef Komunyakaa, whose poetry “weaves together personal narrative, jazz rhythms, and vernacular language to create complex images of life in peace and in war.”
Friday, April 11
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Daily poem: by Ernest Thayer
Classroom prompt:听What does this poem make you want to do?听
Daily poet: Gwendolyn Brooks. She was the first Black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the first Black woman to serve in the role听now referred to as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Learn more from .听
Saturday, April 12
Daily poem: by Billy Collins
Classroom prompt:听How can the poet express so much with so few words?听
Daily poet: Maya Angelou. Most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright, and poet, Maya Angelou “had a broad career as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood鈥檚 first female black director,” according to .
Sunday, April 13
Daily poem: by Yusef Komunyakaa听
Classroom prompt:听How does this poem move?听
Daily poet: Sherman Alexie. Get poems by Sherman Alexie, 鈥渁n award-winning Native American poet, novelist, short story writer, performer, and filmmaker,鈥� from .听
Monday, April 14听
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Daily poem: 鈥溾�� by Bob Holman
Classroom prompt: Do you like this poem? Why or why not?听
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Daily poet: Charles R. Smith Jr. has written more than 30 books. for teacher’s guides, classroom poetry exercises, and more.
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Tuesday, April 15
Daily poem: 鈥淔or Miles鈥� by Gregory Corso听
Classroom prompt: Why do you think the poet chose this title?听
Daily poet: Shel Silverstein. After starting his career as a cartoonist, Shel Silverstein turned to authoring and illustrating children’s books; for their appeal to adults, as well.听
Wednesday, April 16
Daily poem: by Langston Hughes 听
Classroom prompt: Would you like to read more by this poet? Why? Why not?听
Daily poet: Dr. Seuss. Get poems by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known under his pseudonym “Dr. Seuss,” from . He was “probably the best-loved and certainly the best-selling children’s book writer of all time,” wrote Robert Wilson of the听New York Times Book Review. 听
Thursday, April 17
Daily poem: by Michael Harper听
Classroom prompt:听Who does this poem remind you of?听
Daily poet: Jalal al-Din Rumi. Rumi鈥檚 discovery of poetry is generally dated to his midlife friendship with the mystic Shams al-Din Tabrizi.听Rumi remains one of the world鈥檚 most popular poets. 听
Friday, April 18
Daily poem: by Alfred, Lord Tennyson听
Classroom prompt:听Why do you think the poet chose this title?听
Daily poet: William Carlos Williams. “Terror dominated my youth, not fear,鈥� wrote of himself. He was a medical doctor, poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright.听
Saturday, April 19
Daily poem: by Emily Dickinson听
Classroom prompt:听Does this poem sound like anything else when you say it out loud?听
Daily poet: studied Chinese poetry and Taoism when he began writing haikai no renga. His work 鈥渆ngages themes of stillness and movement in a voice that is by turns self-questioning, wry, and oracular,鈥� The Poetry Foundation notes.听
Sunday, April 20
Daily poem: by Langston Hughes听
Classroom prompt:听How does this poem make you feel?听
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Daily poet: E.E. Cummings. The Poetry Foundation calls Cummings “As one of the most innovative poets of his time, E. E. Cummings experimented with poetic form and language to create a distinct personal style,” notes. “Between the ages of eight and twenty-two, he wrote a poem a day, exploring many traditional poetic forms.”
Monday, April 21
Daily poem: by William Blake听
Classroom prompt:听How does this poem move?听
Daily poet: Amiri Baraka. As a poet, writer, teacher, and political activist, Baraka was “well known for his strident social criticism, often writing in an incendiary style that made it difficult for some audiences and critics to respond with objectivity to his works,” according to .听
Tuesday, May 22
Daily poem: by Tupac Shakur
Classroom prompt:听Does this poem sound familiar? Why?听
Daily poet: Billy Collins has described himself as 鈥渞eader conscious,鈥� meaning that when writing, he imagines having a reader in the room with him. he was once dubbed 鈥渢he most popular poet in America鈥� by Bruce Weber in the The New York Times.
Wednesday, April 23
Daily poem: 听by Joyce Kilmer
Classroom prompt:听Does this poem sound like anything else when you say it out loud?听
Daily poet: Elizabeth Barrett Browning. “Among all female poets of the English-speaking world in the 19th century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of her views than Elizabeth Barrett Browning,” according to .
Thursday, April 24
Daily poem: 听by Etheridge Knight
Classroom prompt:听How does this poem move?听
Daily poet: Emily Dickinson, “one of America鈥檚 greatest and most original poets of all time,” declares. “To make the abstract tangible, to define meaning without confining it, to inhabit a house that never became a prison, Emily Dickinson created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized.”
Friday, April 25
Daily poem: by Lillian Morrison听
Classroom prompt: What does this poem make you want to do?听
Daily poet: was discovered as a poet by Langston Hughes. She went on to become the first author to have two books of poetry selected as Pulitzer Prize finalists.听
Saturday, April 26
Daily poem: 鈥�Nine Triads鈥� by Lillian Morrison听
Classroom prompt: Does this poem sound like anything else when you say it out loud?听
Daily poet: was distinguished in poetry, history, biography, fiction, and music. 鈥淭rying to write briefly about Carl Sandburg,鈥� a friend of his said, 鈥渋s like trying to picture the Grand Canyon in one black and white snapshot.鈥�听
Sunday, April 27
Daily poem: by Paul Laurence Dunbar听
Classroom prompt: Name one word from this poem that you鈥檝e never heard before.听
Daily poet: received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1928 to write poetry in France. He married Nina Yolande Du Bois, the daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois. 听
Monday, April 28
Daily poem: by William Carlos Williams听
Classroom prompt: Would you add anything more to this poem if you wrote it?听
Daily poet: Born to two formerly enslaved people from Kentucky, became president of his Ohio high school鈥檚 literary society, editor-in-chief of the school paper, and class poet. He was the only African American in his class.听
Tuesday, April 29
Daily poem: by Henry Longfellow听
Classroom prompt: What do you notice about the language?听
Daily poet: was born in the South Bronx, which many consider to be the birthplace of Hip Hop. He has been featured in the Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature and was also cited in the Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture.听
Friday, April 30
Daily poem: by James Weldon Johnson听
Classroom prompt: Who does this poem remind you of?听
Daily poet: Before even graduating high school, had published in local newspapers and magazines in Santiago, Chile, and won several literary competitions.听
Additional Resources:
- Whether you’re looking to celebrate 楼凤天堂 Poetry Month during April or engage students all throughout the year, 楼凤天堂 has plenty of resources to help you get started.
- Get 30% off 楼凤天堂 poetry books during April.