Consider this article a fairy godmother, here to bestow you with some phenomenal poems that’ll make your life just that much better. Don’t worry, no need to thank me. Just watch these poems, and become a better, happier, more artsy person for it. And happy national poetry month, while you’re at it.
1. “Like, Totally Whatever” by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
You know when you’re like, just talking the way you talk, you know? And people are all like, “I can’t take you seriously.” Melissa Lozada-Oliva perfectly puts to words how messed up it is that women’s words are judged by the colloquialisms and slang that accompany our speech patterns. Plus, she’s the cutest and her hair is to die for.
BEST LINE: “It’s like maybe, I’m always speaking in questions because I’m so used to being cut off. Like maybe this is defense mechanism. Like maybe everything girls do is evolution of defense mechanism.”
2. “Alternative Universe in Which I am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me”
This poem is so life giving. She creates an “alternate universe” where women, get this, have more value than simply what worth is attributed to them by men. Gatwood puts words to how exhausting and gut-wrenching it is simply to not be loved in a world that marks our worth by how worthy we are of male adoration. She also just drops some dope lines, sassy and cutting beyond belief.
BEST LINE: “The boy says he prefers blonde and I steam-clean his clothes with bleach. The boy says I am not marriage material and I put gravel in his pepper grinder.”
3. “Pepper Spray” by A.M. Pressman
We all imagine the rapists, predators, the kind of men we fear as some sort of shadowed figure, a stranger in a dark alley, a lurking man in the corner of a party. Pressman addresses the kind of predators that we trust, the assailants who you consider friends.
BEST LINE: “What protection is your pepper spray when he’s convinced you to put it away? What good is your knife when he’s already buried you in his bed? 82% of survivors know their assailants.”
4. “Song of the Pretty Bird” by Shay Alexi Stewart
This poem is the poem version of that movie that stays with you every waking moment and you’re always thinking about and you want to tattoo every word on all of your body and tell everyone about it always and basically, it’s the best ever seriously just watch it. It’ll MESS YOU UP.
BEST LINE: I legit cannot pick a single line just watch it. Just. Watch the video.
5. “Dear God of Hiccups” by Rebeca Mae
This poem is all about the importance of the small moments, especially in relationships. Like, fighting over Tupperware. And fighting over who left the stove on. And how much those moments matter once you realize you won’t have anymore. Watch this poem when you’re ready to hurt. (Also, bonus: Rebeca Mae is a local Utah poet!)
BEST LINE: “We’d forget about the Tupperware. Talk about the future like we always do. Always did. It’s these last moments that are so special because they are unnoticeably fleeting. Like you.”
So, next time you’re trying to humble brag about how cool and hipster you are, go ahead and be like “Yeah, I was reading this really interesting article about these great poems. Let’s have a discussion about the importance of women in art and how it empowers me to hear the words of other femme humans on such a vulnerable level as poetry slam. Yeah. Great. I’m inspired.”