Explore the rich tradition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer poets and poetry by browsing a selection of poems & audio. For more essays, video, and ephemera, check out our Pride Month roundup.
Featured Poems
“Hair” by Francisco Aragón
who conceived that ravine
“Langston Blues” by Jericho Brown
O Blood of the River of songs...
“The Distant Moon” by Rafael Campo
Admitted to the hospital again...
“Where Is She ::: Koté Li Yé” by R. Erica Doyle
Long ago I met / a beautiful boy...
“Things Haunt” by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza
California is a desert and I am a woman inside it...
“Kudzu” by Saeed Jones
I won't be forgiven / for what I've made / of myself...
“The Talking Back of Miss Valentine Jones: Poem # one” by June Jordan
well I wanted to braid my hair...
“Breathe. As in. (shadow)” by Rosamond S. King
Breathe / . As in what if...
“The Black Unicorn” by Audre Lorde
The black unicorn is greedy...
“I Do” by Sjohnna McCray
Driving the highway from Atlanta to Phoenix...
“syntax” by Maureen N. McLane
and if / I were to say // I love you and / I do love you...
“Starlight” by William Meredith
Going abruptly into a starry night / It is ignorance we blink from...
“My Lover Is a Woman” by Pat Parker
my lover is a woman...
“Abandonment Under the Walnut Tree” by D. A. Powell
Something seems to have gnawed that walnut leaf...
“No One Speaks fo How Tendrils Feed on the Fruits” by Xan Phillips
of my demise these dead hands...
The King is Dead, Long Live the King” by Julian Randall
Heaven is the certainty that you will be avenged...
“Tonight No Poetry Will Serve” by Adrienne Rich
Saw you walking barefoot / taking a long look / at the new moon's eyelid...
“Elegy in Joy” by Muriel Rukeyser
We tell beginnings: for the flesh and the answer...
“The Anactoria Poem” by Sappho
Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers...
“Syntax” by Reginald Shepherd
Occasionally a god speaks to you...
“C.R.E.A.M.” by Danez Smith
in the morning I think about money...
“Dear Melissa: [a curve billed thrasher]” by TC Tolbert
A curve billed thrasher / is cleaning it's beak on the ground...
“Self-Portrait as Exit Wounds” by Ocean Vuong
Instead, let it be the echo to every footstep...
“And Now Upon My Head the Crown” by Phillip B. Williams
In the first place—I wanted him and said so...