Charles Bukowski
Bukowski didn’t believe in form, but still managed to convey pain, love, and everything in between in no more than a few words. His poems claw at my soul unlike any other, and I can’t help but crave everything he’s ever written.
W.B. Yeats
Indulging in history, mythology, and his own personal experiences, Yeats’ ability to deliver crushing emotional weight to my heart no matter what the poem makes him one of my favourites.
William S. Burroughs
Despite his morbid curiosities and disturbing ability to create vivid and morose imagery in my mind, Burroughs was a genius. He was a tortured soul capable of bringing tears to the eyes of anyone willing to read his work.
Syliva Plath
No other writer in the history of literature has a greater way with words. Plath’s pain was always conveyed with brutal observance, and poems such as ‘Lady Lazarus’ feature beauty in its macabre, making it hard not to be intoxicated by her words.
E. E. Cummings
Cummings deeply personal work and style has influenced me the most. Experimenting with form, he paved the way for many poets to write exactly how they wanted to without worrying about boundaries set out by the literary greats.
Christopher P.P. White is a poet that explores every facet of this mortal coil with a mind doused in cynicism and hope. He lives in Derby, England, and has self-published two poetry collections and multiple chapbooks.