The following poems about politics, elections, and government are appropriate for young people. Read related lesson plans.
“Rally” by Elizabeth Alexander
The awesome weight of the world had not yet descended ...
“Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander
Each day we go about our business …
“Election Year” by Richard Blanco
The last ghostly patch of snow slips away …
“America, I Sing Back” by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
America, I sing back. Sing back what sung you in ...
“America” by Robert Creeley
America, you ode for reality ...
“Amendment” by Christina Davis
The love of each of us …
“Exquisite Candidate” by Denise Duhamel
I can promise you this: food in the White House …
“The Republic of Poetry” by Martín Espada
In the republic of poetry …
“On the Freedom of the Press” by Benjamin Franklin
While free from Force the Press remains …
“Ghazal: The Dark Times” by Marilyn Hacker
Tell us that line again, the thing about the dark times …
“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again …
“Poem In Which Words have Been Left Out” by Charles Jensen
You have the right to remain …
“The Watergate” by Rodney Jones
For most in the United States the word brings a phase …
“Calling on All Silent Minorities” by June Jordan
HEY ...
“In a Country” by Larry Levis
My love and I are inventing a country, which we …
“A New National Anthem” by Ada Limón
The truth is, I’ve never cared for the National …
“The White House” by Claude McKay
Your door is shut against my tightened face …
“After the Election” by Sarah Messer
Moonlight slept quiet beneath the grandstand …
“United” by Naomi Shihab Nye
When sleepless, it’s helpful to meditate on mottoes of the states …
“Ghazal: America the Beautiful” by Alicia Ostriker
Do you remember our earnestness our sincerity …
“A House Called Tomorrow” by Alberto Ríos
You are not fifteen, or twelve, or seventeen ...
“Doctrine” by sam sax
the time for nuance is over …
“Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II” by William Shakespeare
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears …
“Election Day, November, 1884” by Walt Whitman
If I should need to name, O Western World …
“The Women’s Litany” by Margaret Widdemer
Let us in through the guarded gate ...
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