sublimunal

[sublimunal]

welcome to the 2023 tumblr poetry smackdown

tumblr has developed something of a canon of poetry over the past couple years, and i figured others might enjoy getting a chance to voice their opinions on a few of those poems! poems i chose for the poetry smackdown had to be more or less widely read on tumblr (generally 10k+ notes, most with more or spread across compilations), and relatively short so as to make voting easier. they also had to be complete—there are a lot of popular lines floating around on tumblr that are excerpted from very long poems and/or poems that are inaccessible via internet, and those aren't included here. a handful of poets are represented here twice reflecting my sense of their popularity, but i arranged the bracket in such a way that it won't be able to stay that way past round 2 at the latest. if i missed a poem that is super popular i'm sorry, that said the bracket is staying as is because this was a shit ton of work to put together and i don't want to. ty.

you can get to the polls by following the links below or going to the #round1 tag on my blog. you can also send me propaganda if you want via ask and i'll post it/add it to the next round's post if the poem wins.

happy voting!

sincerely amelia @poetriarchy :)

ROUND 1: ENDS JULY 17 at 6pm EDT

"The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin vs. "Butter Dish" by Leonard Cohen (cow poems)

"Poem" by Langston Hughes vs. "A Meeting" by Wendell Berry

"Miss you. Would like to grab that chilled tofu we love." by Gabrielle Calvocoressi vs. "My Sister, Who Died Young, Takes Up The Task" by Jon Pineda

"Hammond B3 Organ Cistern" by Gabrielle Calvocoressi vs. "Hong Kong" by Sue Zhao

"someone will remember us" (fragment by Sappho trans. Anne Carson) vs. "Wait" by Faraj Bou al-Isha trans. Khaled Mattawa

"The Quiet World" by Jeffrey McDaniel vs "Invisible Fish" by Joy Harjo

"Want" by Joan Larkin vs. "Come, and Be My Baby" by Maya Angelou

"Swan" by Mary Oliver vs. "How I Go to the Woods" by Mary Oliver

"The Orange" by Wendy Cope vs. "The Tenor of Your Yes" by Mary Ruefle

"Here There Are Blueberries" by Mary Syzbist vs. "Instructions on Not Giving Up" by Ada Limón

"To The Young Who Want to Die" by Gwendolyn Brooks vs. "A Litany for Survival" by Audre Lorde

"Night Walk" by Franz Wright vs. "Meditations in an Emergency" by Cameron Awkward-Rich

"Summer Was Forever" by Chen Chen vs. "I'm not a religious person but" by Chen Chen

"How to Be a Dog" by Andrew Kane vs. "Scheherazade" by Richard Siken

"I'm going to Minnesota where sadness makes sense" by Danez Smith vs. "Dream Song 29" by John Berryman

"Having a Coke with You" by Frank O'Hara vs. "Having 'Having a Coke with You' with You" by Mark Leidner

ADDENDUM: at 6pm on July 17th (or possibly a day earlier if there's already a clear sweep), I will be releasing a one-day poll that will give voters the option to sub in "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver for the winner of matchup #8: "Swan" vs. "How I Go to the Woods". this is to help correct my significant oversight when I was remembering which two Oliver poems I've seen most on tumblr, and it's the only time I'm doing this kind of thing, so don't suggest it for any other poems after this please. that said, a sincere ty to @darkcomedies for first bringing its absence to my attention! and keep an eye out for this extra poll which i am calling ROUND 1.5: A HAIL MARY (OLIVER)

[sublimunal]

something about 37 degrees out, with a cold nose and warm hands. something about slightly chapped cheeks and wrinkled, overripe tomatoes falling off the vines because frost weakened them. you're handing them to your mother after picking them up from the ground and she says, "they're freezing, i hope they're still good." something about plaid flannels and puffer vests. leather gloves caked with dirt from playing outside with the dog, because she loves this weather, it's her weather. something about stepping inside and feeling the warm air wrap around you like a hug from your best friend that you haven't seen for weeks. it sends tingles across the windburn on your cheekbones. the tomatoes are roasting, if you open the oven you'll see them blistered and split, bubbling viciously. you'll rip the vines out of the ground sometime this week. it's too cold for tomatoes. you'll put extra moisturizer on your cheeks tonight, and an extra layer under your pajamas. the snow is still a month or two out. i saw the "winter farmer's almanac" for sale at the grocery store.

something about 37 degrees tonight, sleep well, i love you. if you're cold, come get a blanket from my bed. i won't mind.

[sublimunal]

lorde lyric parallels (that i've noticed) throughout different eras:

stoned at the nail salon; solar power:

"oh, make it good"

ribs; pure heroine:

"we can talk it so good, we can make it so divine"

stoned at the nail salon; solar power:

"got a memory of waiting in your bed wearing only my earrings"

the louvre; melodrama:

"half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor"

california; solar power:

"oh, the hotels and the jets and i'd pay it all again"

still sane; pure heroine:

"i still like hotels, but i think that'll change"

mood ring; solar power:

"you can burn sage, and i'll cleanse the crystals"

royals; pure heroine:

"i've never seen a diamond in the flesh"

the path; solar power:

"now i'm alone on a windswept island"

royals; pure heroine:

"jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash"

writer in the dark; melodrama:

"i am my mother's child, i'll love you 'til my breathing stops"

love club; pure heroine:

"my mother's love is choking me"

writer in the dark; melodrama:

"i'll let the seasons change my mind"

the path; solar power:

"caught in the complex divorce of the seasons"

sober II (melodrama); melodrama:

"you asked if i was feeling it, i'm physco high"

mood ring; solar power:

"we can get high, but only if the wind blows"

liability; melodrama:

"they're gonna watch me disappear into the sun"

the path; solar power:

"i just hope the sun will show us the path"

green light; melodrama:

"i'm waiting for it, that green light, i want it"

solar power; solar power:

"acid green, aquamarine"

big star; solar power:

"but every perfect summer's gotta say goodnight"

hard feelings/loveless; melodrama

"it's time to let go of this endless summer afternoon"

[sublimunal]

I will always stand up for Britney Spears because what she’s endured for years is just tragic. She deserves justice and the right to have control over her own life. This woman has been through so much and she deserves freedom from everyone and everything that has hurt her.

[sublimunal]

i am not the type of person that loves easily.

let me see your odd habits, the things that have broken you. let me see you full of joy and dancing. let me see you sobbing and miserable.

give me a reason to despise you.

and let me then choose to love you: because i know you so well, how could i possibly not?

[sublimunal]

Queen of Peace  Florence + The Machine 

~from another room

[sublimunal]

was looking up 50s fashion for writing reasons and i CANNOT get over the outfits these girls are rocking