As kids we somehow can rhyme words, and we see the beauty around us with innocent eyes. Those are the perfect ingredients to make poets out of us. Alas, puberty and adulthood come surging to spoil the party. The chaos and confusion of post teenage years is hardly the platform to build beautiful verse on. Some can and become genuine poets. I couldn’t, and I turned to reading poetry instead of composing it.

As with all things, the internet is a fount for budding poets and those who are genuinely enthusiastic about the most beautiful form of literature. Which are the better ones you can go to?

Let’s browse around and find the five best poetry websites to catch the best of verse.

Poets.org

poetry websites

The web face of the Academy of American Poets is the place to head to if you are interested in contemporary poetry. The Academy’s chief mission is to - to support American poets at all stages of their careers. It also conducts varied programs that promote appreciation of poetry and budding poets across the American continent. Poets.org is one such program.

The website launches events like the National Poetry Month; The Online Poetry Classroom is an educational resource for teachers to teach poetry – check out the Great Poems to Teach page; and the Poetry Audio Archive, a collection of nearly 500 recordings dating back to the 1960s, are just some of the stopovers you can make on this site. As a simple reader, you can browse through the Poems for Every Occasion page.

Poetry Foundation

best poetry websites

The Poetry Foundation publishes the Poetry magazine. The Chicago based organization vigorously aims to promote poetry across the country through public programs and events. It aims to move poetry from its perception as a marginal art and give it a more widespread appeal. You can browse poems [Broken URL Removed] (a collection that’s 10000+ strong), and refine your search by subject, occasion, holiday, and a few more handy options like filtering poems that are good for children, have related audio, or related video.

Learning resources like the Glossary of Poetic Terms and the Learning Lab are extremely well-compiled. And if you want to enjoy poetry on the go, download the mobile app [Broken URL Removed] that’s also well designed.

Also check out: Poetry Society of America

Poetry Daily

best poetry websites

The goal of this simple site is to make it easier for us to read and enjoy contemporary poetry. Poetry Daily brings us a poem a day from new books, magazines, and journals…works we might not ever come across because they can easily get lost in the din of what gets published around every year.

Sign-up with the newsletter which lets you know about upcoming poets, special editorial features, and poetry news and reviews.

Poetry Archive

best poetry websites

What could be better than poets reading their own works after all wasn’t poetry always an oral skill? The Poetry Archive is just such a collection made up of recordings by poets. You can browse the gallery by the name of the poet, by theme, by title, or by form. There’s also a section devoted to children. Educational resources like lesson plans for teachers, poet bios for students…and more complement your reading.

Head to the links page for more URLs that take you to other poetry resources on the internet.

Poetry.com

poetry websites

From the heralded poets, we come to a level where a budding poet can join a community of amateur poets and pen a few without feeling overwhelmed. Poetry.com is a site for amateur poets and is a community that rewards you with points for participating in the different activities around the site. So, if you are just starting out with your first work, this site could be worth a look.

A serious read through some of the above sites could either sweep over you with its creativity, or it could sweep you over so much that decide to give your skill as a budding poet a good chance to shine. If you really enjoy reading poetry, you wouldn’t mind either. Tell us if you are. Do you know of any other great poetry resources that we haven’t here?