“Non-bisexual people definitely know more about being bisexual than I do.”
Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist, featuring the top-viewed recent videos on the Button YouTube Channel. Today’s additions: Daniel, & Rachel Wiley! Congrats poets!
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
“I know, I do, that I feel this way now and will not feel this way soon. I know that the aphorisms, even if I hate them, are right. This too shall pass.”
Don’t miss this beautiful poem from Neil Hilborn, featuring at his book release party at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Make sure to grab a copy of Neil’s newest book, THE FUTURE.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, Olivia Gatwood, Hanif Abdurraqib, Sabrina Benaim, Guante, & Rachel Wiley!
“I wonder if I’m just a beautiful thing meant for the world to make theirs?”
Don’t miss this remarkable poem from Porsha Olayiwola, featuring at Button Poetry Live.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
“I imagine, when God made you, he cussed for the first time. He turned to an angel, gave him a high five and said: ‘Goddamn, I’m good!’”
Don’t miss this wonderful poem from Rudy Francisco, featuring at his book release party at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Get your copy of Rudy’s book, HELIUM.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, Olivia Gatwood, Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
2017 Button Poetry Video Contest.
“Our love is tragic. Our bodies are tragic. Our struggle is your selling point, your box-office bait, your elevator pitch.”
Don’t miss this brilliant poem by Kevin Kantor, 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 Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rudy Francisco, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
“You are asking me to do something I have never had the privilege to. Blindness is never a solution.”
Congratulations to Joseph Capehart on topping 100,000 views on this amazing poem!
And while you’re here, make sure to check out our other books and merch as well, including our awesome t-shirts and poster and books by Hanif Abdurraqib, Olivia Gatwood, Donte Collins, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Rudy Francisco, Guante, Rachel Wiley, and our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
“Maybe I was supposed to be a lumberjack or a loaded insult in someone else’s grip, something my white neighbors would think is dangerous, but too honorable to fear.”
Don’t miss this magnificent poem from William Evans, featuring at Button Poetry Live. Make sure to grab a copy of William’s book, STILL CAN’T DO MY DAUGHTER’S HAIR.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, Hanif Abdurraqib, Donte Collins, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
In-Depth Look: EJ Schoenborn – “Controversial Opinion: In Defense of Cargo Shorts”
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.
“My body and cargo shorts are both thought of as disposable.”
———
Write-up by Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre
In a weird coincidence, I once also wrote a poem called “In Defense of Cargo Shorts.” I only ever performed it a couple of times, so I’m sure EJ hasn’t heard it. But it speaks to the power of that particular symbol, and of symbolism more generally. So much of poetry is “digging in” to a particular image, or moment, or object in order to unearth something meaningful, something that might transform how people understand an issue or idea via that symbol.
And what a symbol. Cargo shorts, culturally, carry so much baggage related to class, culture, gender, and beyond. Every now and again, there’ll be a think-piece or listicle up on fashion sites or pop culture blogs talking about how terrible cargo shorts are, and if you don’t think critically about them, it can be easy to just laugh them off. But if you do take a moment to dig a little deeper, you might unearth some powerful questions about the relationships between identity and expression, culture and consumerism.
This poem uses that symbol in such a specific and powerful way, also utilizing the structural tool of “the turn” (how a poem might start with one tone, and then shift to another to make the audience understand what came before in a new way). That last line brings in all home so unforgettably: “If the pickup lines think I’m a straight man, maybe I can walk home tonight, alive.” The line challenges the audience to rethink their assumptions about cargo shorts, sure. But in doing that, it digs so much deeper, challenging us to rethink other assumptions we might have too– about gender identity, expression, safety, and more.
Find more from EJ Schoenborn in the archives!
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including books by Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, William Evans, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
“Who are you fooling, they just have to take one look at you to know where you came from.”
Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist, featuring the top-viewed recent videos on the Button YouTube Channel. Today’s additions: Melissa Lozada-Oliva, & Michael Lee! Congrats poets!
While you’re here on our site, make sure to check out our books and merchandise in the Button Store, including books by Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Rudy Francisco, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
2017 Button Poetry Video Contest.
“Come back to me. Come back to me the way leaves come back to trees in spring, the way ocean comes back to shoreline, the way hair should back to a head after a haircut.”
Don’t miss this hilarious poem by Jonathan Salazar, 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 Donte Collins, Sabrina Benaim, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rudy Francisco, Rachel Wiley, & our newest release from Neil Hilborn!
