The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Whole Poems I Love

"Spoken Word" p76-77
"About A" p103
"Sometimes Someone Says Something" p110
"Diplomas" p204
"Final Draft of Assignment 4 (What I Actually Turn In)" p248
"Other Things You Think About in the Split Second Your Notebook Is Burning" p311

Description

He is an award-winning bound book,
where I am loose and blank pages.
p99

And now his smile is a little sad.
And I think about all the things we could be
if we were never told our bodies were not built for them.
p188

Love It

And about this apple,
how come God didn't explain
why they couldn't eat it?
He gave Eve curiosity
but didn't expect her to use it?
p120

"I thought it would be cathartic
to write something beautiful for yourself."
p240

Because at least here with her,
I know my words are okay.
p264

She tells me words give people permission
to be their fullest self.
p345

"but I'll always have your back,
and I'll always protect your heart."
p352

I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark.
p357

Ancestors: you crossed the harshest of waters / & waters & waters & waters / & on the other side / still gasping / your breath / dreamt us / out of the tide / & we rise / because of / for you.
p361

Gender

And I knew then what I'd known since my period came:
my body was trouble. I had to pray the trouble out
of the body God gave me. My body was a problem.
And I didn't want any of these boys to be the ones to solve it.
I wanted to forget I had this body at all.
p151

Sobs

God just wants me to behave so I can earn being alive. p333 

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