My favorite poems? Of my own and someone else’s?

Something in me recoils at the word favorite–I have so many favorites. I have what we call in my family “Grandma-Betty-itis.” Grandma Betty was famous for saying “This is the best ________ I have ever ______.” (Fill in the blanks appropriately: This is the best cake I have ever eaten. This is the best show I have ever seen.) It’s not that I think all poems are the best. In fact, I don’t even like most poems. But I do have many many favorites. In this interview, on Writing to Be Read, I share one of my favorites of my own, plus one of my favorites by someone else … and then a poem I wrote about the poet of my favorite poem. Thanks to Robbie Cheadle for the questions.