If you have a case of "metrophobia" — or fear of poetry — Richard Blanco wants to help you become a "metromaniac."
The nation's fifth inaugural poet joined Boston Public Radio to share a master class in reading and interpreting poems, including discussing some of his favorite works and what keeps him coming back to the craft.
Blanco said his approach to poetry can be summed up by a line in Roque Dalton's poem "Like You": "Poetry, like bread, is for everyone."
"I love the metaphor because it's the idea of sustenance, but also the idea that bread is an ordinary thing that we have every day, and that [poetry] can be that in our lives," Blanco explained.
"It connects for me what I feel poetry can be for all of us," he said.
Follow along with the poems discussed in this segment, in order:
"Like You" by Roque Dalton
"One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop
"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams
"Mother Picking Produce" by Richard Blanco
