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!
Autostraddle Read A F*cking Book Club #2 – Let’s Read The IHOP Papers!
“Liebegott’s debut novel is a coming-of-age coming-out in the tradition of Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle, but here, the portrait of an artist as punk waitress is more a celebration of sexuality than humanity. Twenty-year-old Francesca is a recovering drunk who finds comfort in cutting herself and harbors fantasies of her beautiful AA sponsor, Maria; her former philosophy teacher, Irene; and a soap opera heroine.”
Autostraddle Read A F*cking Book Club #1: Eileen Myles’ Inferno
Did you read Inferno by Eileen Myles, our first-ever Autostraddle book club selection? I sure as hell hope so, BECAUSE IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT.
Dear Harry Potter, We Are Lesbians And We Love You
Maybe you think it’s stupid because it’s just a book and Harry Potter doesn’t exist. Well, he does for me. And I’m a better person because of it.
Listling Without Commentary: Books On the Shelves of My Mom’s Guestroom
What color is YOUR aura?
The Bearable Heaviness of Portia DeRossi’s “Unbearable Lightness”
“As I walked across the mall wondering if the way I walked made me look obviously lesbian, my mind switched to thinking about how much weight I’d have to lose to fit comfortably into those Capri pants.”