To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 through October 15—and the rich tradition of Latinx and Spanish-language poetry all year long—browse this selection of poems by classic and contemporary poets.

more poems for kids

lesson plans for hispanic heritage month

Natural Criminal” by Francisco X. Alarcón
I am / a nomad...

América” by Richard Blanco
Although Tía Miriam boasted she discovered…

Translation for Mamá” by Richard Blanco
What I've written for you, I have always written...

Calculations” by Brenda Cárdenas
I don't know what to tell you...

A Sonnet on Cervantes” by Rubén Darío
In all my days of troubled loneliness...

The Republic of Poetry” by Martín Espada
In the republic of poetry...

Spanish as Experienced by a Native Speaker” by John Olivares Espinoza
A George Washington quarter...

Chile's Land” by Gabriela Mistral
Let's dance on the land of Chile...

Puerto Rican Discovery #3: Not Neither” by Sandra María Esteves
Being Puertorriqueña-Dominicana...

Central America in My Heart” by Oscar Gonzales
On this voyage into the deep communion of solitude ...

breaking away to the u.s.” by José B. González
finally, / a day so perfect that...

Un Mango Grows in Kansas” by Huascar Medina
You have found me hidden in a wheat field...

Everyday We Get More Illegal” by Juan Felipe Herrera
Yet the peach tree...

The Sky Over My Mother's House” by Jaime Manrique
It is a July night ...

Maps” by Yesenia Montilla
Some maps have blue borders...

declaration” by Andrés Montoya
i have found …

Day of the Refugios” by Alberto Rios
I was born in Nogales, Arizona …

notes on the seasons” by Raquel Salas Rivera
in Spanish, we don’t naturally occur …

Citizenship” by Javier Zamora
it was clear they were hungry...

Ode to the Head Nod” by Elizabeth Acevedo
the slight angling up of the forehead...

more hispanic heritage month resources