QUILTBAG Poetry: Queer Poet Andrea Gibson

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Today I'll be sharing with you a few poems from queer poet and social activist Andrea Gibson. Gibson was the first winner of the Women’s World Poetry Slam and has five albums and two books of her poems, which touch on subjects of class, race, sexuality, gender, love, and spirituality. Many of her poems could be classified as queer activist poetry as they tackle social injustice towards QUILTBAG individuals.

I've already shared with you the Prop8-inspired poem I Do during activist poetry week. Today I'm sharing three poems by Gibson. The first, Letter to the Playground Bully is an upbeat piece intended to be appropriate for younger children while still tackling the issue of bullying, which has created an epidemic of suicide among gay youth. The second, Swingset, is about the experience of being gender queer in a world that craves those black and white lines of gender identity. The last, Ashes, was written in response to the disturbing phenomenon of gays, both in and out of the military, being burned to death for being homosexual.

As a forewarning: Gibson writes with a sledgehammer rather than a fine quill pen, so these poems do contain some profanity, slurs, and references to anti-queer violence. So, TW for anyone who might have difficulty with hearing as much.

Letter To The Playground Bully

Swingset

Ashes

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