Pure Poetry #12: Maya Angelou
“And when I leave to
find another house,
I wonder, what among
these shades will be
left of me.”
Issues
Pure Poetry #11: Saul Williams
“Admittedly, as a 21-year-old middle-class queer Asian woman, I probably do not share that many experiences with Saul Williams, except for maybe being from New York and having a profound appreciation for women’s bodies.”
Pure Poetry #10 : Michelle Tea
“hey now tall girl
aren’t you bored
all by yourself in your messy room”
Pure Poetry #9: Shel Silverstein
(from Intern Lily & w/a 12-year-old boy who lives with Laneia) – “Silverstein writes what children see. He reminds us all of what it is like to view the world in its purest form. A world without stereotypes, biases, and social norms.”
Pure Poetry #8: Louise Glück
It was the last line of the poem that was the most striking. ‘The love of form is a love of endings.’
Pure Poetry #7: e.e cummings
“e.e cummings is also really hard to read aloud because of his weird use of syntax. He’s kind of like Yoda but more sexual.”
Pure Poetry #6: Staceyann Chin
Chin’s writing covers a lot of topics- so I’m going to share excerpts of two very different pieces with you. Because I love you.
Pure Poetry #5: Leonard Cohen
“It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I realized that Leonard Cohen was an accomplished poet, that his songs were poetry set to a soundtrack.”
Pure Poetry #4: Has Anyone Ever Heard of This ‘Andrea Gibson?’
So in order to include Andrea Gibson in this article, because we know you want us to, we (Carmen and KC Danger) decided to pay homage to her by watching her on YouTube and writing in notebooks.”
Pure Poetry #3: Anis Mojgani
“I was here. I was here motherf*cker. And ain’t none of y’all can write that in the spot that I just wrote it in.”
Pure Poetry #2: Eileen Myles
“Every time I read a new Eileen Myles book, I ended up carrying it on me for weeks. I think I’m going to end up with a good collection. I would never lose it.”
Pure Poetry Week Starts Now! With Pure Poetry Post #1: Def Jam
We have declared this week Autostraddle Pure Poetry Week, when we are going to talk about poets we like all the time! First up is T.S. Eliot. Just kidding it’s Def Jam.
Read a F*cking Book: Ten Lesbian & Bisexual Poets To Fall in Love With
You probably don’t read enough poetry and you would probably be smarter if you did.
The Lesbian Avengers – Time to Seize the Power & Be the Bomb You Throw!
“In my years with the Minneapolis Lesbian Avengers, we defaced anti-choice billboards, participated in visibility actions at schools, constructed a giant paper machè bomb piñata filled with lube and dental dams, helped plan the first of many Dyke Marches, designed and built a boat out of milk cartons for the Aquatennial Milk Carton Boat Race (dubbed The “Lez Boat” and pronounced with a hard “z” – no mystery there) and ate fire on countless occasions.”