April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to celebrate poetry and its vital place in our society. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, this month-long celebration has attracted millions of readers, students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and poets.

Each Friday of April, I will share a favorite poetry collection.

Today’s pick is If Adam Picked the Apple by Danielle Coffyn, a collection described as “a celebration of resilience.”

I was first drawn to its beautiful cover with its warm, cheerful color palette and a playful, whimsical tone that mirrors the thought-provoking “what-if?” at the heart of the title. From the start, I sensed this would not be a passive reading experience.

Reading the poems confirmed that instinct. This is a collection that lingers and invites reflection, sometimes demands it. I found myself rereading the poems, not because I didn’t understand them the first time, but because each revisit revealed something new. An overlooked phrase, a sharper edge, an inconvenient truth.

What struck me was how a single line or verse could stop me, sometimes with a chuckle, sometimes with a pause, and sometimes with an ache. Each poem seems to hold at least one line that insists on being remembered:

“I no longer wish to masquerade as mozzarella—
revered for her mild scent, her pristine complexion.
I want to mature like a wheel of camembert.” (I Don’t Want to Age Gracefully)

“No boy is worth watering down your intelligence.
Read. Write. Fire up your tongue.” (Reclamation for My Twelve-Year-Old-Self)

“They are surrounded by us,
millions of shark women
camouflaged as goldfish.” (Sharks)

“We were promising as children, gifted girls
with potential. Our options were boundless,
within reason.” (For the Unconventional Woman)

“They forgot we are protective balm,
fierce, dandelion women;
rooted, resilient,
destined to bloom.” (Lion’s Teeth)

Released in 2025, this timely collection encourages women to embrace their uniqueness and embark on journeys of self-discovery and empowerment.

Here’s one of my favorite poems:

If Adam Picked the Apple

There would be a parade,
a celebration,
a holiday to commemorate
the day he sought enlightenment.
We would not speak of
temptation by the devil, rather,
we would laud Adam’s curiosity,
his desire for adventure
and knowing.
We would feast
on apple-inspired fare;
tortes, chutneys, pancakes, pies.
There would be plays and songs
reenacting his courage.

But it was Eve who grew bored,
weary of her captivity in Eden.
And a woman’s desire
for freedom is rarely a cause
for celebration.