SMEAR: Poems for Girls

By Greta Bellamacina

A vivid, powerful anthology of poems by and for young women, giving voice to a new generation of international poets, with themes of feminism, empowerment, resilience, confidence, and integrity.

SMEAR: Poems For Girls presents a curated, all-female lineup of poets from different countries and addresses issues of trauma, survivorship, independence, and body positivity. As described on Dazed.com: "The poetry collection celebrating the imperfect, frank woman, SMEAR is chronicling the voices of women, unapologetically confronting self-image, body autonomy and our relationships with each other."

The first North American edition of SMEAR will include an expanded selection of poems from international woman poets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Release date: Apr 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781524862633

Book preview

SMEAR: Poems for Girls copyright © 2020 by the authors and Andrews McMeel Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. First published in a smaller edition by New River Press, London, 2016.

Andrews McMeel Publishing

a division of Andrews McMeel Universal

1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ISBN: 978-1-5248-6263-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019951262

Editor: Greta Bellamacina

Editorial Coordinator: Lucas Wetzel

Production Editor: Elizabeth A. Garcia

Art Director: Tiffany Meairs

Production Manager: Cliff Koehler

Ebook Developer: Kristen Minter

ATTENTION: SCHOOLS AND BUSINESSES

Andrews McMeel books are available at quantity discounts with bulk purchase for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail the Andrews McMeel Publishing Special Sales Department: [e-mail].

SMEAR

LION’S ROAR — Katherine Vermillion

OH FOR SOIL, FRESH TURNED — Katherine Vermillion

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A VERB MAKES — Katherine Vermillion

YOUNG GHOSTS — Afshan Shafi

GIRL (A SCIENCE) — Afshan Shafi

GIRL (MADAME BOVARY DAYS) — Afshan Shafi

GIRL (THE KINDNESS OF SPECTATORS) — Afshan Shafi

15TH MAY 2016 — Luisa Le Voguer Couyet

M’DEAR — Luisa Le Voguer Couyet

HUMAN — Sophie Morrison

EMMA — Sophie Morrison

PREGNANCY TEST, IF YOU WERE PINK—I'D DO MY BEST—Bre Graham

I, CARRIED ME — Tenishia McSweeney

ON MOTHERHOOD — Tenishia McSweeney

WALLS - Sophia Carlotta

TWO-FACED — Kayleigh Parle

BACK THEN — Kayleigh Parle

THE TATTOOED WOMEN OF SEOUL — Octavia Akoulitchev

L.A. — Octavia Akoulitchev

NIGHTDAY — Lillie Davidson

SHADOW — Lillie Davidson

GRETA AND ME — Scarlett Sabet

SHE SIGHS IN HER PANTHEON DROWNING — Brit Parks

SQUIRMING BLACK LACE — Brit Parks

SACRIFICE ANTHEM — Brit Parks

TORSO HOOK PRAYER — Brit Parks

SLEEPING ICE RAIDS — Brit Parks

TOMORROW’S WOMAN — Greta Bellamacina

WHOLE WORLD ON YOUR HIPS (END PERIOD POVERTY) —Greta Bellamacina

BODIES — Greta Bellamacina

20 WEEKS IN WATER — Greta Bellamacina

WHITE CEILINGS — Camille Benett

THE PALACE OF DEAD FLOWERS — Camille Benett

FAMILY TREE — Camille Benett

LOCK THE DOORS — Camille Benett

SUPER BOWL TOAST — Mariana Saori Wall

FINAL THREAT — Georgina Mascolo

WOMAN IN TWO MOVEMENTS — Eleanor Malbon

ECCENTRIC SUSIE — Sarah Roselle Khan

MOONCHILD — Sarah Roselle Khan

A RED MANIFESTO (FOR THE LOST BOYS, GIRLS AND NB’S) — Sarah Roselle Khan

SOMETIMES I CAN BE SUCH A PRINCESS — Sarah Roselle Khan

MY MOTHER — Sofia Mattioli

MIDWIVES — Michelle Hillestad

SANTA MARIA DEL MAR — Michelle Hillestad

SONGS MY ENEMY TAUGHT ME (CANTO) — Joelle Taylor

THE BODY COLONY — Joelle Taylor

STELLA, STELLA — Jaclyn Bethany

AND YOU SHINE CONTENT — Ana Seferovic

WHILE THE WORLD WAS DISAPPEARING WE GREW AND GREW — Ana Seferovic

BOYS AND BRICKS — Brittany Drays

NAKED — Brittany Drays

WOMAN TO WOMAN — Brittany Drays

TOO SERIOUS . . . — Lily Cheifetz-Fong

BIG UGLY TATTOO — Suzi Feay

THE GOLD COAT — Suzi Feay

MESSAGE TO MY TEENAGE SELF — Kirsty Allison

ODE TO VENLAFAXINE — Sophie Thompson

EPILOGUE EPILOGUE — Sophie Thompson

GIRLHOOD, GUNS, AND YOU — Susan Bradley Smith

THE TRUE REMAINER — Charlotte Pannell

A LADY — Charlotte Pannell

THE ARCHITECTURE OF HER HEART — Miranda Darling

THE VOICES ARE SHOUTING NOW — Miranda Darling

ELITE MEMBERS OF THE MOMENTARIAT — Rushika Rush

THE PEN KNIFE — Rushika Rush

NEW SKIN — Megan Preston Elliott

PERFUME (IN RESPONSE TO GIL DE RAY’S SONG —

HOW TO CONTOUR — Natalie Theo

FEARLESS — Bindu Bev

ON THE NATURE OF LIVING — Adanna Egu

ON LOSS — Adanna Egu

R E V O L U T I O N — Ida Thomasdotter

L I T T L E G I R L — Ida Thomasdotter

THE COMMANDMENTS OF WOMAN — Billie Partridge-Naudeer

WATCHING YOU ROCK YOUR DAUGHTER TO SLEEP — Billie Partridge-Naudeer

WHERE ARE YOU LITTLE GIRL? — Justine Martin

I FLOSS MY TEETH EVERY NIGHT — Elizabeth Hadden

UNTITLED — Lori Wallace

WOMAN COMMITS — Maisie McGregor

MORGDEN — Maisie McGregor

THE BOYS WHO NEARLY KILLED ME — Jade Angeles Fitton

GOOD MANNERS — Jade Angeles Fitton

TOPANGA CANYON — Jade Angeles Fitton

PHILOSOPHY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BOYS CLUB (WHAT I WISH I HAD BEEN TOLD AFTER FAILING INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY) — Jacqueline Moulton

DOMINION — Eleanor Perry-Smith

VICTORY IN RED — Casey Harloe

MY STATUS QUO — Louise King

YOUR RUT — Stacey Cotter Manière

SEDIMENT — Amber Singh

FOR HER — Sorcha Collister

GROWING THROUGH WHISTLES IN THE WIND — Sorcha Collister

TOAST FOR DINNER — Georgie Jesson

LEGACY — Miranda Gold

TEXTING THE TEENAGE SELF — Golnoosh Nourpanah

BASTARD — Golnoosh Nourpanah

DUST — Amy Burgwin

MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE REVERSED — Julia Houghton

FIRST KISS — Monica Medeiros

T HIS BODY — Sarah-Jane Lovett

I AM A STORM — Roosa Herranen

Pollution — Roosa Herranen

THE NIGHT MY MOTHER DIED — Barbara Polla

UNNAMED 1,2,3,4,5,6 — Elle En Kay

LION’S ROAR

Katherine Vermillion

I pay currency to the woman with the lion’s roar

for she told me that she could teach me to do the same.

She says that all little girls have lions in their stomachs

that deserve to prowl around their spine

and lurk in their irises.

But she’s warned me that many a lion has been lost in adolescence,

for the world teaches us to beat them out from our hearts

and replace them with pearls embedded in the skin,

to bathe in mild milk baths,

and relish the sweet bite of honey on our tongues.

She says they try to wash us pure and imbue sweetness,

stifling our inner beast in the process,

pressing them so far from our minds

that we forget we ever had them at all.

I only pay currency to the woman with the lion’s roar

so she can teach me how to open my throat

and let the echoes of fierce felines arch their way across my tongue,

so that I never lose the feeling in my stomach

that power snaps across my skin like electricity.

OH FOR SOIL, FRESH TURNED

Katherine Vermillion

grow yourself a girl, they say

fold seeds into the soil

water them at the right time every day

and out will twirl a woman,

once they laid fertilizer

where her feet would be plucked from the earth,

a sweet liquid of crushed pearls and a drop of mother’s milk

to make their girls grow more demure,

ones who would make you brush the dirt from their skin

before they settled themselves down into domesticity,

but the fertilizer has been forgotten

the twining of vines that become a body

allowed to ply the ground with their own tendrils

refusing to be clipped back into submission,

and so, the girl that emerges in the back garden

shakes