April is National Poetry Month (Check out Poets.org for 30 ways to celebrate at home!) and we've been having so many discussions about what poetry means to us, what is and isn't poetry, and what is and isn't meaningful. (**Please note: in this episode we discuss some poems with mature themes, including sexual assault. If you’re looking to avoid that content, you can skip to from 13:45 to 17 minutes into this episode.)

Christina shares maybe her favorite essay on art, The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner, as well as three of her favorite collections: Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals by Patricia Lockwood, and There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker.

Kat gets into the weeds of what defines a person and a poet with Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark, and Poetry Will Save Your Life by Jill Bialosky.

And Jen shares meaningful poetry experiences she's had with teens, the anthology A Poem For Every Day of The Year edited by Allie Esiri, and For Every One by Jason Reynolds, a poem about never giving up your dreams.