Bend, Don't Shatter Poets on the Beginning of Desire

by Rachel, T. Cole; Costello, Rita D.

• ISBN13: 9781932360172
• ISBN10: 1932360174
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-14
• Publisher: Soft Skull

Summary

An anthology of poetry for young adults that realistically and beautifully deals with what it means to come of age as gay, lesbian, transgender, or, as is perhaps more often the case in adolescence, totally confused. The anthology approaches the seemingly unnavigable territory of teenage sexuality and confusion with poems written by adults who keenly remember the turmoil, pain and excitement of adolescence and sexual coming- of-age. These poems bring comfort, consolation and joy to an audience for whom poetry itself might seem as unfathomable as the adulthood they face.

Author Biography

T. Cole Rachel is a writer, editor, and teacher who lives in Brooklyn. His books include Surviving the Moment of Impact and Bend Don't Shatter.

Table of Contents

A Note from the Editors	p. 7
Introduction	p. 8
The Boy	p. 11
Misdemeanor	p. 13
Sombreo Beach, Vancouver Island, BC	p. 14
I Think You Got Me Confused	p. 16
Awakening	p. 18
Here's a Match	p. 19
Untitled - robin pickering	p. 21
Song to Myself at Seventeen	p. 24
Butterflying	p. 26
Las Barbies	p. 28
Mama Said	p. 30
Hide-n-Seek	p. 31
We Are Not Vegetarians	p. 32
Clock	p. 33
The Logic of Queerness: (Releasing your Ivy Evening Within)	p. 35
This I Whisper	p. 39
The Odd Years	p. 40
Bubble	p. 42
Longing	p. 45
Fort	p. 47
After School Commute with My Girl	p. 48
Saltbox Brothel	p. 50
Sunshine	p. 51
A Texas Sunrise	p. 52
Earplugs	p. 54
Black Water Creek	p. 55
Mariposa	p. 57
Last Ditch	p. 58
Arrythmia (1-10)	p. 59
The Boy Girl Game	p. 61
Polestar	p. 62
Heat	p. 64
My Sixth Grade Sex Life: Milne Elementary, New Orleans	p. 68
Soft	p. 70
Mickey Mouse	p. 71
Something More Obvious	p. 73
Wolf Packet and Rural America	p. 75
Spending the Night	p. 76
Nightfire	p. 77
When My Sister Was Fifteen	p. 79
MacArthur High School	p. 80
My Mysterious Body	p. 83
Elegy for the Hurdler	p. 84
Greyhound	p. 85
The Girl in The Boy's Dressing Room	p. 87
Courage!	p. 88
Slicker	p. 90
If We Were in a Gregg Araki Movie	p. 92
Crush	p. 94
Ode to DJ	p. 95
Form a Band, Goddammit Horehound Stillpoint	p. 98
Doubletalk	p. 99
Uncertain Geometry	p. 100
Lilac	p. 101
Cruising a Hungry World	p. 103
Serial Toxic Teen	p. 105
Playing for Love	p. 106
I Got Beat Up A Lot in High School	p. 108
You Can't go Back to Sleep	p. 109
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.