Don’t miss this incredible new poem from Neil Hilborn, performing at Honey in Minneapolis.
Get your hands on Neil’s newest book, THE FUTURE, NOW AVAILABLE!
“Pretend that the whole world is the music video of your love. Finish every sentence by taking off your sunglasses, especially when you aren’t wearing any.”
Don’t miss this beautiful poem from Jared Singer, featuring at Button Poetry Live.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
“It is said that 1 in 3 women will experience violence in their lifetime. I have two daughters, both who have inherited my eyes.”
Don’t miss this amazing poem from Native Child, performing at the 2017 Rustbelt Poetry Festival.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
“I took an online quiz to find out whether or not you abused me.”
Don’t miss this remarkable poem from Anna Binkovitz, performing at Button Poetry Live.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
“I never thanked you for being my lighthouse.”
Don’t miss this wonderful poem from Javon Johnson, featuring at Button Poetry Live.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
Don’t miss this beautiful new poem from Neil Hilborn, performing at Honey in Minneapolis.
Get your hands on Neil’s forthcoming book, THE FUTURE, coming April 2018, preorder now for a signed copy!
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rudy Francisco, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
2017 Button Poetry Video Contest.
“How you do it, girl? How you wake up with a smile on as big as the sun when you were up crying all night before?”
Don’t miss this powerful poem by Joan Leslie, runner-up in the 2017 Button Poetry Video Contest!
Stay tuned for more information about our 2018 Video Contest!
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Mahogany L. Browne, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rudy Francisco, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
“I can’t help but believe if the women I loved were gathered at a table, the general consensus among them would be, alright, the good thing about Omar is that he doesn’t take anything seriously. The bad thing about Omar, is that he doesn’t take anything seriously.”
Don’t miss this incredible poem from Omar Holmon, featuring at Button Poetry Live.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
“Stained glass is sometimes just light born in a better neighborhood and I can smell the gunpowder you swallowed every time I startle a flock of birds that will never fly again.”
Don’t miss this magnificent poem from William Evans, featuring at Button Poetry Live.
Check out William’s remarkable book, STILL CAN’T DO MY DAUGHTER’S HAIR, now available!
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
In-Depth Look: Ashaki Jackson – “The Public is Generally Self taught and Uninformed”
Appreciating poetry is often about patience: sitting with a poem, meditating on it, and re-reading it multiple times. With spoken word, we don’t always get a chance to do that. This series is about taking that chance, and diving a little deeper into some of the new poems going up on Button.
“Sometimes there is silence after a video is released. You want to describe it as grief, or disbelief, or trauma.”
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Write-up by Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre
In addition to being a poet, Ashaki M. Jackson, Ph.D., is also a social psychologist. That feels relevant when experiencing this poem, which does so much with so few words. Note how the poem is written in second-person, but that the “you” feels alive in its specificity. At first, it feels perhaps self-incriminating, exploring the reflexive thoughts that many of us have when reading about another injustice. But as the poem goes on, it moves from the universal to something a bit more focused, which brings everything back to the title. This is a poem that has something specific to say– not just about media and information, but about the specific issue of police violence and its roots in US history.
The poem is also a powerful crystallization of an idea that I’ve found more and more friends and colleagues (in poetry, academia, and beyond) discussing lately– how hungry we are for hot-takes, and how difficult it can be to get a more nuanced, multi-layered idea to catch fire and go viral. When excavating the whole truth requires that we “consider the history of policing in a chattel system” (explored in books and articles like this), are we really willing to do that, or will we be content with incomplete truths?
Find more from Ashaki Jackson here.
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While you’re here on our site, make sure to check out our books and merchandise in the Button Store, including Guante’s own book, as well as titles by Danez Smith, Neil Hilborn, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Rudy Francisco, Stevie Edwards, Claire Schwartz, Guante, & our newest release from Rachel Wiley!
