As the 100 day mark of Donald Trump's administration inches closer, it's important to remember that the resistance has only just begun — and will continue for the next four years. Whether it was the Women's March on Washington in January or the white-wearers at Trump's first Congressional address, those that identify as nasty will not be ignored.
Still, any cause can be strengthened with reminders, and that's why it's so important to read poems that inspire you to stay nasty. Fortunately for you, nasty reader, it's not too hard to find poems that will fire you up and keep you flying that nasty flag. (The higher the better, right?) After all, being nasty means something specific in today's political context, but that's not a unique identity for poets to portray. Nastiness is timeless.
These seven poems will inspire you to speak your mind and own your nasti-tude. They'll get you geared up to participate, be an activist, stand your ground, hold strong to the principles that guide you. They'll give you the courage to celebrate your unique voice, to know the strength of your nasty power. (All right, nasty powers ... every last one of them.) In short, they'll send you out into the world, certain you've become the truest — and nastiest — version of you.
1"Art" by Erika Jo Brown
Not many passions take your pants off
—painting with oils, reading in the afternoon,
other people’s bodies. I want to really
say something here. I want to be clear.
2"What Would Gwendolyn Brooks Do?" by Parneisha Jones
Hold On.
Hold On everybody.
Even if all you have left
is that middle finger around your God-given right
to be free, to be heard, to be loved,
and remembered…Hold On,
and keep
Holding.
3"In the Dream" by Jenny Johnson
I was in the dream as open to the elements,
yet I fired back. And I didn’t care who eyed me
like warped metal to be pounded square.
4"For Joe" by Sandra Simonds
I could feel the trade ships
in my bloodstream, the blood that made me,
and I wanted to kill it
really bad like a war path. They said my poems
were a mess. Well, if that’s the case, then, go ahead.
5"Litany" by Mahogany L. Browne
i am always burning and no one knows my name
i am a nameless fury, i am a blues scratched from
the throat of ms. nina—i am always angry
i am always a bumble hive of hello
6"Her Kind" by Anne Sexton
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
