1. Paper Dolls – Sierra Demulder

Sierra’s probably most well known for Unrequited Love Poem but Paper Dolls definitely ‘speaks’ to me a lot more. My favourite part:

“And I know sometimes it’s hard to feel perfect
when you can’t tell an adam’s apple from a fist
because some ashtray of a man forced you to play his eden.”

I also really recommend her poem Mrs Dahmer because hey, combining slam poetry with serial killers – what more could I ask for?

2. Ten Honest Thoughts On Being Loved By A Skinny Boy – Rachel Wiley

My favourite part:

“The phrase “Big girls need love too” can die in a fire.
Fucking me does not require an asterisk.
Loving me is not a fetish.
Finding me beautiful is not a novelty. 
I am not a fucking novelty.”

3. The Honest House – Megan Falley

My favourite part:

“Did you know that the metronome inside us quickens when telling a lie? I want to build
an honest house, where the motion detector is so sharp it knows when my thoughts leave
the room. Where the clap-on lamp works as a polygraph. When you swear you still love
me, the lights flicker.”

I also really love some of Megan’s other poems like For Those Who Are Right Now Still Looking For Closure, and Fat Girl.

4. Blue Banket – Andrea Gibson

My favourite part:

‘Walking to the car alone
get the keys in the lock
please, please, please, please open
like already you can feel that five-fingered noose around your neck
his nails digging graves into the sacred soil of your flesh
please, please, please, please open”

Basically everything else that Andrea Gibson has written is incredible, I can’t even choose favourites.

5. I Had A Dream About You – Richard Siken

My favourite part:

“Still wet, I lay down next to you. Your arms, your legs, your naked chest,
your ribs delineated like a junkyard dogs.
There’s nowhere to go, I thought. There’s nowhere to go.”

There’s no video for this one but you can read the whole thing here, his book ‘Crush’ is one of my favourites.

6. Survival Poem #17 – Marty McConnell

I’m just going to post the whole thing here because it’s short and I can’t choose a favourite passage.

“because this is what you do. get up.
blame the liquor for the heaviness. call in late
to work. go to the couch because the bed
is too empty. watch people scream about love
on Jerry Springer. count the ways
it could be worse. it could be last week
when the missing got so big
you wrote him a letter
and sent it. it could be yesterday, no work
to go to, whole day looming.
it could be last month
or the month before, when you still
thought maybe. still carried plans
around with you like talismans.
you could have kissed him last night.
could have gone home with him, given in,
cried after, softly, face to the wall, his heavy arm
around you, hand on your stomach, rubbing.
shower. remember your body. water
hotter than you can stand. sit
on the shower floor. the word
devastated ringing the tub. buildings
collapsed into themselves. ribs
caving toward the spine. recite
the strongest poem you know. a spell
against the lonely that gets you
in crowds and on three hours’ sleep.
wonder where the gods are now.
get up. because death is not
an alternative. because this is what you do.
air like soup, move. door, hallway, room.
pants, socks, shoes. sweater. coat. cold.
wish you were a bird. remember you
are not you, now. you are you
a year from now. how does that
woman walk? she is not sick or sad.
doesn’t even remember today.
has been to Europe. what song
is she humming? now. right now.
that’s it.”

via.