Poetry of Resistance

A Poetry Mixtape Edited by Ashley Obscura

Ashley's Liner Notes

In "Poetry of Resistance" I have curated a selection of poems that I feel demonstrate the theme of resistance within contemporary poetry, particularly from BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities. Compiling profound work from poets, this mixtape establishes the poetic form as a powerful and effective tool of self-affirmation, belonging and resilience.

In this collection, you will find not a call to arms, but a call to open arms. In it, we can collectively wonder: how can we fight back with words, and how can those words hold space for us, our communities, families and the world at large? How can we resist the ills of the world by leaning deeper into our humanity and into peace with one another, fully embracing our unique flaws, our love for each other, love for the land, for our ancestors and for the complicated and nuanced lives we face daily? I feel that these poems offer a space for this kind of positive resistance, pushing back against anything and everything that holds us apart from being anything other than who we are. To live authentically. To be brave. To create a world through poetry that returns our embrace.

For me, resistance is rooted in our need for a sense of belonging in and to the world, and that we should always resist anything that attempts to separate us from our own and each other’s humanity. These poems illustrate the bravery it requires to take up space in this world, and are especially indicative of how important this kind of labour is in our society. My hope is that this collection helps expand your understanding of what resistance is and can look like, and that you can find inspiration and a source of inner power through these poems to be who you are and continue to fight (with words) for the world you want to be a part of. May these poems ignite you.

In the words of Ada Limon (a poem included in this collection):

Here it is:

the new way of living with the world
inside of us so we cannot lose it,
and we cannot be lost. You and me,
are us and them, and it and sky.

-Ashley Obscura

Ashley Obscura

ASHLEY OBSCURA (she/her) is a Canadian-Mexican publisher, editor, and multi-disciplinary poet interested in the intersection of physical and…

Poem readings

The Poems

Fariha Róisín

the many descriptions of being brown

White people tell you to apologize for yourself

through gestures, through small talk, through the ways in

which they ask, “Where are you from?” and

then again, unresolved: “No, I mean...Where are you

Ocean Vuong

Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong

Ocean, don’t be afraid.

The end of the road is so far ahead

it is already behind us.

Don’t worry. Your father is only your father

until one of you forgets. Like how the spine

Brandi Bird

19

I triage the landscape. The prairies

are numb today and so am I.

I am too thin. Built

like I won't explode on hot

afternoons, a mirror

to the sky. My body is a hurt

where tall grasses grow, where

Hana Shafi

Bad Brown Girl

i can barely speak in my mother tongues stutter

my accent is bad

i hate jalebi

but i like aloo samosa

i'm a bad brown

girl i didn't join the

SAA or the ISA

Joshua Whitehead

Full Metal Oji-Cree

this is the transsensorium

there are indo-robo-women fighting cowboys on the frontier

& winning finally

the premodern is a foundation for the postmodern

wintermute, tessier-ashpool, armitage

Shazia Hafiz Ramji

Poem of Failed Amends (Amor fati)

I’ve put the oats in a jar,

with yogourt and seeds,

left it in the fridge

overnight. The fruit on top

will thaw, dripping

sweetness

into the rest.

I want to remember

I’ve done this

Aisha Sasha John

Regardless

If I am judged

If I am punished

If I am dismissed

If I am misunderstood

If I am celebrated

If I am envied

If I am competed with

If I am slandered against

If I am seen

Ivanna Baranova

confirmation bias

at least in our waking life

most commemoration

doubles as force

since even

the most benign

zodiacal conceptions

are tinged eurocentric

when brown women die

John Elizabeth Stintzi

America (I’m Putting My Queer Shoulder to the Wheel)

The night America took off her mask

we slept together poorly. I'd woken up early

that Tuesday, dragged myself to a gymnasium

in Jersey City to cast my vote into the void.

Natalie Scenters-Zapico

Buen Esqueleto

Life is short & I tell this to mis hijas.

Life is short & I show them how to talk

to police without opening the door, how

to leave the social security number blank

Natalie Wee

Let Us Be Fireflies

All day we

practice morse code signals

telegraphing ghosts

of intent.

Ada Limón

We Are Surprised

Now, we take the moon

into the middle of our brains

so we look like roadside stray cats

with bright flashlight-white eyes

in our faces, but no real ideas

of when or where to run.

J-Card (PDF)

PIV-Liner_Poetry-of-Resistance.pdf

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