Pansy - Softcover

Gibson, Andrea

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938912985 ISBN 13: 9781938912986

Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing, 2015

Synopsis

In PANSY, Gibson balances themes of love, gender, politics, sexuality, illness, family and forgiveness with stunning imagery and a fierce willingness to delve into the exploration of what it means to truly heal. Each turn of the page represents both that which as been forgotten and that which is yet to be released. While this book is a rally cry for political action, it is also a celebration of wonder and longing and love. Contents: Elbows A Letter To My Dog Exploring The Human Condition The Madness Vase, AKA The Nutritionist Exploring My Relationship History Emergency Contact Bit A Letter To White Queers, A Letter To Myself Angels of the Get-Through Lalalol To The Men Catcalling My Girlfriend While I'm Walking Beside Her Things That Don't Suck Royal Heart An Insider's Guide On How To Be Sick Panic Button Collector Upon Discovering My Therapist Willingly Shares an Office Space With A Male Therapist Who Is An Accused Sex Offender Supposedly Recovered From His Urge To Rape 13-Year-Old Girls Ferguson Pansies A Genderful Pep-Talk For My Younger Self Etiquette Leash On Being The Blog Job Queen of My High School Party Clotheslines Love's Weight Privilege Is Never Having To Think About It Lens Prism Riot During The Worst Of It 1988 Ballad Of The Unused Tandem Bicycle Place Plum For The Leaving Orbit Truce Before The Fever Broke My To My Love On The Day She Discovered Tumblr And Every Love Poem I Ever Wrote To Every Woman I Loved Before Her Journal Entry, 07/13/2013 Honey

About this title

About the Author

Andrea Gibson is not gentle with their truths. It is this raw fearlessness that has led them to the forefront of the spoken word movement― the first winner of the Women's World Poetry Slam ―Gibson has headlined prestigious performance venues coast to coast with powerful readings on war, class, gender, bullying, white privilege, sexuality, love, and spirituality.
Their work has been featured on the BBC, Air America, C-SPAN, Free Speech TV and in 2010 was read by a state representative in lieu of morning prayer at the Utah State Legislature.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

To the Men Cat-Calling my Girlfriend
While I'm Walking Beside Her
One of the biggest perks to looking the way I do is
that I virtually never have to listen to someone like you
suck your own dick, out loud, while telling yourself
I am what you're swallowing.
How do you not know when
you open your mouth like that
women imagine
you would use your mugshot
as your Ok Cupid photo? Fail.
Fail is what you do
every time you think you can
ace manhood without ever
showing up to class. I mean class
as in decency, as in common courtesy,
as in the opposite of
Let me get a look at that ass, Baby Doll!
Congratulations on being another dude
who bought his catcalls from Toys R Us.
You unoriginal hand-me-down of mediocrity.
You mosquito
biting your own balls in a swamp
of your mother's regret. Yes, I know
it's low to call even assholes names.
But any feminist who has ever taken
the high road will tell you
the highroad gets backed up, and sometimes
we need to take a detour straight through
the belly of uncensored rage.
Sometimes we get tired
of seeing people's humanity, when they
are outright refusing to show us
their humanity. And so far
all you've shown me is that
your voice box is a Rubix Cube
you couldn't get right, even if
you peeled the fucking stickers off.
I don't think you could get all sides
clear on why
you do not own the air. Or why
not everyone takes a bullet
as a compliment. And yes,
even Hey baby can spiral
like a bullet if it is aimed
at someone who is not, in fact, your baby.
If women have to play dead to walk by
your doorstep, you might want to
do some work on why a casket
turns you on. On why her flinch
and startle makes you think
you are in charge more than it makes
you realize you own power outage.
This city is dark with men blowing themselves
out. Men burying their own spines
in the weight of what they think
is theirs
to take
to own
to muzzle
to drag
into the ditch. This city
is dark with men hiding their own
hearts like bloody gloves...

About this edition

• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1938912985
• ISBN 13: 9781938912986
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120