13 Poems That Will Move You
From verse about Columbus Day to trying to masturbate on election night — these poems have range.
"Barbershop" by Phillip B. Williams
“So I’m sitting in the barbershop getting my hair cut when this dude say he would kill his son if he found out he was gay.”
"Record" by Danniel Schoonebeek
“May of that year / he began to debate killing himself. / Debate not contemplate."
When The Therapist Asks You To Recount, You Have To Say It, by Aricka Foreman
“It happened while I thought about grace, how a lady / handles her body.
"B.F.F.", by Hieu Minh Nguyen
“I lay in the dark & stretch the portrait / of a white woman across my face / until it splits."
"I Knew I Wasn't Poor," by Jan Beatty
"I knew I wasn’t poor, / because I could always eat / at the restaurant where I waitressed."
Two Poems About A Controversial Emmett Till Painting by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
"In paint you're still pulling him / out of the river. Still taking the skin / off (again) with a bullet brush."
"On The Night Of The Election" by Franny Choi
"I tried to touch myself / in the hotel room / when the bar closed / before I’d had enough,"
"It's Not Fitness, It's A Lifestyle" by Nicole Sealey
"I’m waiting for a white woman / in this overpriced Equinox / to mistake me for someone other / than a paying member."
"Buen Esqueleto" By Natalie Scenters-Zapico
"Life is short, and I tell this to mis hijas."
“Follow Him” By Jenny Zhang
“it happened to me: / I dated a white anarchist / who made me do all the dishes / while he crowdfunded his trip to Rojava”
"Living On Earth" By Alex Dimitrov
"What does the moon know of our language, / our care for its perceived loneliness / which may be its one joy."
"Columbus" by Maggie Smith
"What else / have I claimed that was not mine?"
"Cotton Candy" by Kaveh Akbar
"My mother wept nightly for eight years / my living curled its hands / around her throat not choking exactly."
"Woo Woo Roll Deep" by Angel Nafis
"You can’t tell us / shit. We always down for the miracle."
-
Tomi Obaro is a senior culture editor for BuzzFeed and is based in New York.
Contact Tomi Obaro at tomi.obaro@buzzfeed.com.
Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.
