Pure Poetry #18: Raymond Carver Could Drink Ten Quarts of this Beer
And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
Pure Poetry #17: Adrienne Rich Came to Explore the Wreck
I came to explore the wreck. The words are purposes. The words are maps.
Pure Poetry #16: Vanessa Hidary, The Hebrew Mamita
‘Should I fiddle on a f*cking roof for you?’
Pure Poetry #14: Sady Doyle on the Great Poet Diane Di Prima
“This woman found the riskiest, weirdest thing to be, at any particular moment, and then she became it.”
Pure Poetry #15: Pablo Neruda
“Cómo logró su libertad la bicicleta abandonada?”
Pure Poetry #13: Jack Spicer Breaks My Heart Into Small Pieces
“I think that anyone’s a fool to become a junkie or a poet… it’s the same kind of hook really, and it has the same withdrawal symptoms if you ever try it.”
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.
Eileen Myles on Being Female
“Speaking frankly as a lesbian I have to say that the salient fact about the danger zone I call home is the persistent experience of witnessing the quick revulsion of people who believe that because I love women I am a bottom feeder. I am desperately running towards what anyone in their right mind would be running away from. Which is femaleness, which is failure.”
Autostraddle Read A F*cking Book Club #2: The IHOP Papers by Ali Liebegott
THE TIME HAS COME to discuss your feelings/ideas/lucid dreams/lesbian poetry about The IHOP Papers. Come on in and grab a seat.
Seriously Guys, We Need You To Read This F*cking Book
YOU GUYS. You haven’t read this book yet have you. Please do this. Do it for me. I need to talk about my feelings about waitressing. There’s a lesbian sex scene! At least one! I can’t remember exactly!