Collin Kelley shares his five favorite poetry books with us. In case you are just tuning in, 32 Poems will share a list each day during National Poetry Month (and maybe a bit beyond).

As Collin Kelley says: Without Whitman, we’d all be nothing.

Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood: In my opinion, this 1995 collection is not only her best poetry, but one of the finest volumes of poetry ever published. I read it at least two or three times a year and find something new every time.

Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful by Alice Walker: I discovered this collection in high school and carried it everywhere. This was Walker’s collection post-The Color Purple, so she was working at the height of her creative powers.

Singing Yet: New and Selected Poems by Stan Rice: This book came into my life in the early 90s and forever changed my view of poetry. Rice broke down barriers when it came to subject, language (adult language, that is) and surrealism in poetry. His voice is greatly missed.

Leave of Grass by Walt Whitman: Really, what else is there to say? Without him, we would all be nothing.

All My Pretty Ones by Anne Sexton: She’s the reason I write poetry at all. Without her, I’d be nothing.

Collin Kelley is the author of the poetry collections Better To Travel, After the Poison and Slow To Burn, which is being re-issued by Seven Kitchens Press in July. His debut novel, Conquering Venus, is out now and his second, Remain in Light, will be published in early 2012.