The 2011 edition of The Best American Poetry is infused with Kevin Young's highly original, vivid, bluesy sensibility and his gifts as a modern storyteller. This year's book tells, as Young says in his lucid introduction, the “truth beneath the tongue” it taps into the reality of American life now. There are poems about the recession and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and there are poems about love and history, poppies and pears, angels and the afterlife, coffee, and even the kitchen sink. Representing the wealth, the breadth, and the tremendous energy of poetry in the United States today, this edition features some of our country's most beloved poets, including Carolyn Forché, Sherman Alexie, Billy Collins, Natasha Tretheway, and Richard Wilbur, and exhilarating work from fresh new voices: Cara Benson, Michael Cirelli, and Jennifer L. Knox among them.