Poet of the Month 015: KRISTINA HAYNES

KRISTINA HAYNES
2013

 

BELIEVE ME, I'VE TRIED

 

I go everywhere and want to be kissed.
What does it say about me that I change my
perfume every time I get a new boyfriend?
Lately I walk to places with headphones on
and let myself be sad when the music says
I should be. I’ve become cliche: Drinking lattes
and posting pictures of the food I don’t even
eat online. I get excited over everyone else’s
excitement. I do the things single girls can
get away with, like letting him stick his hand
up my skirt and search until I say yes, until I say
don’t stop, until I am breathing in so deeply
that his hair gets stuck in my throat. I have sex
in public restrooms and watch myself in the mirror.
His hand on my ass. His mouth on my shoulder.
I cannot write a better poem than this.

 

Published online 23/11/2013
© 2013 theshipfitterswife 

*

UGLY GIRL 

 

Ugly girl, unlovable.
Ugly girl, try to fit in.
Ugly girl, you can’t sit here.
Ugly girl, quiet.
Ugly girl, hoarding beauty magazines.
Ugly girl, breakouts.
Ugly girl, thick waist.
Ugly girl, feel so small.
Ugly girl, selfie.
Ugly girl waiting for him to call.
Ugly girl never gonna find better.
Ugly girl, bloated.
Ugly girl, not enough sleep.
Ugly girl suffocates from too much hairspray.
Give ugly girls a chance, they need love too!
Ugly girl, back of the photo.
Ugly girl, lipstick on your teeth.
Ugly girl, it’s what’s on the inside.
Ugly girl breaking mirrors instead of your face.
Ugly girl, your body is not an apology,
a four-page letter written to God asking why.
Ugly girl, you are not the sum of the men who have left you.
Ugly girl, you are not your shade of foundation.
Ugly girl, you are not your parents’ throwaway genes.
Ugly girl, raise the blinds.
Ugly girl, come outside.
Ugly girl, state of mind.
Ugly girl, good enough.
Ugly girl, break out.

Published online 19/10/2013
© 2013 theshipfitterswife

 

 

The following biographical statement appears on the poet's Tumblr blog.  [It is re-posted here for recommendation purposes only and, like the poems, remains its author's exclusive copyright-protected intellectual property.]

 

Kristina Haynes is a 22 y/o aspiring actress currently living at home with her parents and commuting back and forth to college where she majors in Theatre.  After graduating from her current school, she hopes to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Musical Theatre in New York City.  Her work has been featured in several literature magazines including Freckled and The Laconic and she has recently published a chapbook of poetry, It Looked a Lot Like Love through Where Are You Press.  When she's not writing or spending her time on stage, she's usually tweeting celebrities or putting her Netflix subscription to good use.  She believes in astrology, red lipstick and you.

 

Kristina Haynes writes poetry that is as witty and insightful as it is painful and occasionally heartbreaking.  Please take a moment to read more of her work.

 

 

 

Use the link below to visit the blog of North American poet, writer and actor KRISTINA HAYNES:

 

 

http://fleurishes.tumblr.com/

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated 18 March 2021