Pretty much anything by Rudyard Kipling or Robert Service.
Good manly poetry.
There are some excellent contemporary poets to read. I would recommend W. S. Merwin, Stephen Dunn, Louise Gluck, Sharon Olds, and Mark Strand in particular. Seamus Heaney is also excellent. Also I would recommend James Wright, particularly his book “The Branch Will Not Break”, and, of course, James Dickey.
I agree with the Bukowski nomination.
e.e. Cummings’ use of metaphors regarding nature/life/relationships is quite good and wastes no words.
Char-Dawg hits on a good point concerning imagery associated with personal experience (workout). Good one t-man in nippon.
Elaborate further on how to use poetry to enhance workouts- hmmpf, now THERES a topic for TC to wrangle with.
Gay powerlifters write the best poetry. See the ignorant slut’s post above.
Robert Frost is my favorite. I also feel this topic is gay.
There once was a man from Nantucket…
I get a kick out of “The Trapper and the Bears” by Watson Kirkconnell. About a northern Ontario winter, close to where I grew up. Some funny stuff.
Billy
“Beneath my hands” by Leonard Cohen
Edward Gorey, the illustrator, wrote lots of funny, ghastly poetry to accompany his pictures. I recall this poem about people dying, with letters of the alphabet, like, “A is for Andy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil devoured by bears. . .K is for Kate run through with an axe, L is for Leo, who swallowed some tacks.”
I love Ogden Nash’s “The Zoo.” Short and humorous, but less ghastly.
“The Congo” by Vachel Lindsay has great imagery and an awesome beat. . .great to perform in front of a crowd. . .if you can overlook its disgustingly racist and Christian-supremist theme.
I’ve written poetry, myself, for 7 years or so. It’s really fun to look back at things I wrote years ago and remember what I was up to then. It’s like a diary, or a photo album.