Hey Thomas, if you want contemporary that doesn’t bore you to tears and give your teacher fits….Try the poetry of Henry Rollins.

Or you could just use your dad’s. He kicks ass you know.

Pablo Neruda

I loved Yusef Komunyakaa’s Neon Vernacular.

Even more, I adore Bryan Penberthy’s work. I’ve got a copy of his collection Lucktown sitting around somewhere (if I haven’t given it away, yet again — I’ve burned through like 3 copies that way, and people keep not giving them back).

Lucktown is easily my favorite collection released in the last 5 years.

You could also look up Chuck Simic’s work if you want to go the U.S. Poet Laureate route. I don’t even know if he’s still the PL or even if he’s still alive.