We Slept Here

By Sierra Demulder

We Slept Here is a case study in vulnerability and honesty. In this sequence of memoir-esque poems, Sierra DeMulder pulls at the threads of a past abusive relationship and the long road to forgiveness. The poems themselves become that which was taken from her. These are hard poems, made up of clarity and healing, which attempt to share some of their peace with the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Button Poetry
• Release date: Jan 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781943735129

Sierra Demulder

Sierra DeMulder is the author of four other collections of poetry (The Bones Below, New Shoes on a Dead Horse, We Slept Here, Today Means Amen) and the co-host of the relationship advice podcast Just Break Up. She lives in Albany, NY with her wife and daughter.

Book preview

AND IF I AM TO FORGIVE YOU

Who am I

if I am not

the aftertaste

of abuse?

The offspring

of your temper

and your fat

white pills?

I don’t know

what will be left

of me if I dump

the curdled milk

down the drain.

Sometimes I just

like to look at it,

open the fridge

and let the cold

sharpen my skin.

Be someone

who bought

milk once.

A poet told me

to write about

you. Write it

out, honey.

As if you were

a fever or

a horse to break.

As if you don’t

already show up,

uninvited,

unbeckoned,

into every poem.

Your hand

guides my wrist

as I write this,

even now.

MY SISTER REMEMBERS

the sharp, feral way our father spoke

to the maker of his children.

How his whole face became a mouth.

How he hissed and spat and

huffed like a hell engine. How our

mother became more chair

than voice, her whole body an opening.

An echo chamber. How he

said words we did not know but knew

were bad and would repeat

like gaudy hyenas to our cousins.

How we too became animals.

How she went limp as a snipped lily,

a wax doll going soft next to

the stove. It is not that my father yelled

and it is not that my mother

received his yelling. It is that we

remember them like this,

in

Reviews for We Slept Here

[Bean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quick read but very meaningful. The poetry resonates a lot about the poet's past and in the end it all summed up to forgiving oneself.

[Alexis Joy Cato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. Just wow. Thank you Sierra, for writing this beauty.

[rachaeljshaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully heartbreaking. Spoke to my soul. I loved every single poem.