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.
lesson plans for hispanic heritage month
“Natural Criminal” by Francisco X. Alarcón
I am / a nomad...
“Ode to the Head Nod” by Elizabeth Acevedo
the slight angling up of the forehead...
“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...
“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...
“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...
“The Only Mexican” by David Tomas Martinez
The only Mexican that ever was Mexican...
“Un Mango Grows in Kansas” by Huascar Medina
You have found me hidden in a wheat field...
“Per aspera ad astra” by Huascar Medina
We were lost in the plains...
“Along the Border” by Jasminne Mendez
On a dirt road...
“Chile's Land” by Gabriela Mistral
Let's dance on the land of Chile...
“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…
“Nani” by Alberto Rios
Sitting at her table, she serves…
“notes on the seasons” by Raquel Salas Rivera
in Spanish, we don’t naturally occur…
“Professional Spanish Knocks on the Door” by Elisabet Velasquez
At first we don’t answer…
“Citizenship” by Javier Zamora
it was clear they were hungry...
“Nó, Actually, Soy Salvadoreño” by Javier Zamora
“EL Sal-va-doh-RE-AN Salva-doh-RAN, Salva-DOH-RÍ-an,”...