I say, ‘I am fat.’
He says, ‘No, you are beautiful.’
I wonder why I cannot be both.
I say, ‘I am fat.’
He says, ‘No, you are beautiful.’
I wonder why I cannot be both.
kick me around, punch me till your knuckles bleed
till I bleed all over your pristine carpet,
no fucking amount of seltzer will ever be able
to remove the stains you splattered on my heart
bleeding, bruised, broken, torn apart,
you are never satisfied,
I’m strangled by your ignorance,
choking on the strings of words that
I’ll never be able to say to you properly.
I looked for you between glimpses of leaves
and in the cracks of the pavement,
until I realized that’s all I really am—
a crack to your perfect windshield.
even more accurately, a miniscule
insect that you wipe
and wipe
and wipe
away, but is too stubborn to fully disappear.
I’m so sorry for staining your perfection.
Distance - Dylan Garity
“Her voice is strangled by three thousand miles of telephone lines.”
Today is the last day for us,
but I’m trying to forget that.
I know you’re trying, too.
so we laugh and smile and jest and joke
paint lies upon lies of vivacity on our faces
weave falsehoods of joy with our fingertips,
our fingertips always connecting,
enjoying the electrical sparks tingling up our spines
you hold me like you never did before
you somehow wrench a blush right out of my gut
flaming cheeks screaming how much
I love your very touch.
I want every inch of you on me,
I want time to pass by faster,
I want you right here.
I know I’ll crave you when you’re gone, but
will you even notice that I’m gone?
the dark thoughts that constantly plague my sleep
continue to pervade my happiness,
pessimism escaping from my tongue,
I wish I knew what to say.
I wish I could just articulate
the thoughts that sprint through my head.
I wish I could pluck at my own heart
like cello strings, and find the right words
somewhere between the heaven and hell
I hold within me.
While I fight off my demons, and refuse my angels,
the one constant in my life is you
even though all I have left to give you
are these leftover pieces of ugly,
I hope that you’ll find it in your heart
to miss me.
Paper Dolls - Sierra Demulder
“We are taught from the moment we leave our pink nurseries that we are collapsible paper dolls—light to hold, easier to crumple.”
“I know it’s hard to feel perfect when you can’t tell an Adam’s apple from a fist because an ashtray of a man picked you to play his Eden, but I will not watch you collapse.”
A poem about the strength that women can hold.
Garden - Sierra Demulder
“You threatened to disown me when you found out I smoked cigarettes, but when I showed you my wrists, you pretended not to see, so I knew that you loved me.”
“I don’t regret how you raised me; all the mistakes we make in life take us somewhere.”
“If the first step to getting there is telling you that I love you, I will carve it in Braille on your pillow so it’s the first thing you feel in the morning.”
Static - Sierra Demulder
Performed by Homeless and Sierra Demulder at CUPSI 2009
“Your house is not a warzone—it is eerily quiet. This silence breeds insomnia. The world is asleep, but you are wrapped in a straitjacket of alarm clocks and school bells, the only conscious in a city filled with zombies.”
“How could they relate to this Armageddon in your head? Your parents are stupidly ignorant to the static collecting between your knuckles.”
“You wonder if heaven exists, or if it’s just a Santa Claus lie to make you sleep at night and be nice to others.”
This is such an amazing poem, I recommend everybody give it a listen. It’s written from the viewpoint of the shooters at the Columbine shooting. Everything about this poem is so beautiful in every way, there are honestly no words to describe how I feel about it.
When I Was 14 - Dawn Saylor
“So, I bit the apple in confusion, abandoned my innocence beneath the tree of knowledge, and became as bitter as the fruit I couldn’t refuse.
time and again, giving in, giving up, always waiting, always wanting something more.”
Dawn Saylor embodies the teenage girl’s mind—the girl that gives everything for the boy they “loved,” yet wasn’t deemed enough. So relatable in many aspects; the delivery is right on point, and I love this poem.
1:00 AM - Sierra Demulder
“Please stop saying you’re sorry.
Your ribcage is a harness.
If you let it, life will hang you.
I cannot catch you.
I can barely stand to watch you fall.”
This is such a beautiful poem, and Sierra Demulder is my favorite slam poet. I really, really appreciate the flow of this poem; the vocabulary and the metaphors are stunning.
10 Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy - Rachel Wiley
It’s very relevant. I empathize with most of what she’s saying in this poem; the delivery is flawless and heartwrenching. I simply love Rachel Wiley.
