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ep words locked up that keep poetry journals ivory safe spaces, so they can give readings with credentials</p><p id="faf8">and say this is what it is, this is what it means to make and be and speak poetry and this is what it is to be a poet when</p><p id="07a7">all around me all day long women poet and the oppressed poet despite the fences, despite the tower’s formula that says</p><p id="e7ef">poetry has to be veiled and vague, and nature and animal imagery has to be thrown around in strings of words that circle the drain of meaning and the</p><p id="9170">meaning is always about some sort of hurt that cannot be stated unless disguised because to speak clearly to speak plain</p><p id="a128">would open the doors to too many, would incite action in publications to show and tell and share and praise</p><p id="cf61">poetry that said what it meant, that cried when it wanted to cry poetry that said thank you, that let everyone in with open arms.</p><p id="b33f"><i>Author’s Note: Before the upset begins, I hope it is clear that white boy poetry means standard gate-keeping old school MFA elitist poetry that people sometimes confuse with “the only poetry.” We know even from high school that poetry is diverse, poetry is Maya, poetry is Langston, poetry is Sylvia, poetry is Audre, poetry is right here, and poetry is more than this Ted Hughes stuff that gets into journals and held up as what to do and be when we talk about writing poetry. Not all white men write white boy poetry. Heck, some women write white boy poetry! But reading or hearing poetry should not make your head hurt. It should not leave you feeling confused or lost. Things should be immediately felt. Even if it starts slow and hits hard, I feel that poetry can be for everyone, that those doors could be wide open, and that we can do better to show poetry can be this sure, can be talk of snakes and talk of dads, can be talk of gardens and talk of hurt, but it can be more, do more, show more, share more, and give more to get more people on board.</i></p><p id="d25d"><b><i>Jenny Justice</i></b><i> is a poet mom who longs to bring poetry to life in ways that spark empathy, connection, joy, and feeling. She loves writing<a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/center-52927449220c"> love poems</a>, <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/love-in-the-time-of-climate-change-11a88bb642f4">climate change</a> awarene

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ss poems, <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-can-write-a-poem-c5663d17c48d?sk=50930fec528fcd31d3fc6dffe7b77407">poems for kids</a>, and of course,<a href="https://readmedium.com/your-voice-on-the-page-19ab8993ed8e"> poems about poetry </a>and poets. You can follow her on <a href="https://medium.com/@jennyjustice">Medium</a> and at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jennyjusticewriter/">Jenny Justice, Writer</a>. You can support her on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jennyjustice">Patreon.</a> You can follow her poetry at<a href="https://medium.com/justice-poetic"> Justice Poetic.</a></i></p><p id="be25"><i>You can sign up for her poem a week newsletter <a href="https://jennyjustice.substack.com/p/coming-soon?r=2jhb2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy">here</a> — thank you!</i></p><div id="c4e1" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/poem-machine-82431c31ac19"> <div> <div> <h2>Poem Machine</h2> <div><h3>A Poem</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*83jzwcO7sh08-sQC)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="b7e8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/poetry-doesnt-sell-113f13c58543"> <div> <div> <h2>Poetry Doesn’t Sell</h2> <div><h3>A Poem</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*MCTu5UVw3Cdlp3B0)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="620a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-i-write-poetry-bed1cbfdc644"> <div> <div> <h2>How I Write Poetry</h2> <div><h3>The Answer is Magic</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*OfNVk_esMuaSw437)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

I Come Home, After an Evening of White Boy Poetry

A Poem

Photo by Tom The Photographer on Unsplash

I come home and take my clothes off after an evening of white boy poetry

I step out of my shoes first, lay them by the door my new pants and blouse, itchy from seeking to fit in

are discarded with the pleasure of freedom to exist in my space, to hear my own voice, to recover

from the night of white boy poetry that hums and drones that rises and falls in the same tone, every poem

about something mom did wrong, every poem about wanting dad to be better, every poem

not saying these things in clear language, no they talk of snakes and tattoos, of learning to ride bikes, of stages of gardens,

they talk of hurt and dirt, water, and mountain ranges, and these things stand in for feelings of being somehow less than or somehow

seeking entitled greatness that never arrives, in the form of mom giving you space and dad giving you approval, and these are the poems that

will be or have been published in journals, the poems that get lauds and applause, that gets conversation and praise after from other white boys and

white women and, I perpetual traitor, sneak out of the door, an outcast never loyal to who society expects me to stand for and be for I

see a black woman with dreads on the steps she is bored she is here to recover too perhaps but when I approach her and

try to get a win of connection for the night, I can tell she’s already filled up on whiteness

and white words and I want to say me too me too please understand but I give her the gift of respect and let her stare at the sky in peace and in silence

as I leave I hear a white boy MFA say the word a-junct, instead of adjunct, and I wonder why things have to have such levels and layers that keep people out

that keep words locked up that keep poetry journals ivory safe spaces, so they can give readings with credentials

and say this is what it is, this is what it means to make and be and speak poetry and this is what it is to be a poet when

all around me all day long women poet and the oppressed poet despite the fences, despite the tower’s formula that says

poetry has to be veiled and vague, and nature and animal imagery has to be thrown around in strings of words that circle the drain of meaning and the

meaning is always about some sort of hurt that cannot be stated unless disguised because to speak clearly to speak plain

would open the doors to too many, would incite action in publications to show and tell and share and praise

poetry that said what it meant, that cried when it wanted to cry poetry that said thank you, that let everyone in with open arms.

Author’s Note: Before the upset begins, I hope it is clear that white boy poetry means standard gate-keeping old school MFA elitist poetry that people sometimes confuse with “the only poetry.” We know even from high school that poetry is diverse, poetry is Maya, poetry is Langston, poetry is Sylvia, poetry is Audre, poetry is right here, and poetry is more than this Ted Hughes stuff that gets into journals and held up as what to do and be when we talk about writing poetry. Not all white men write white boy poetry. Heck, some women write white boy poetry! But reading or hearing poetry should not make your head hurt. It should not leave you feeling confused or lost. Things should be immediately felt. Even if it starts slow and hits hard, I feel that poetry can be for everyone, that those doors could be wide open, and that we can do better to show poetry can be this sure, can be talk of snakes and talk of dads, can be talk of gardens and talk of hurt, but it can be more, do more, show more, share more, and give more to get more people on board.

Jenny Justice is a poet mom who longs to bring poetry to life in ways that spark empathy, connection, joy, and feeling. She loves writing love poems, climate change awareness poems, poems for kids, and of course, poems about poetry and poets. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. You can support her on Patreon. You can follow her poetry at Justice Poetic.