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I’ve written so many poems in my life. And every single one of them was just trying to find a better way to say what one soul said to another soul with one word. Isn’t it amazing that I came up so short? Isn’t it everything that I tried so hard and failed to write a single thing more beautiful than

love.

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Meg, for your love, humor, and willingness to keep editing my writing in spite of my teary tantrums. Thank you, Mandy, for your soft, tough, and eternal heart. Thank you, Emily, Bethy, Denise, Buddy, Eve, Natalie, Lauren, Manny, Siaara, Chris, Laura, Alia, Sandi, Sonya, Shannon, Julia. Thank you, Mom & Dad. Thank you, Mika and Greg for helping me bring “Homesick” into the world. Thank you, Liza, for your activism, grace, and the heart-lessons that will never ever leave me. Thank you, Lara. Thank you, Daniel and Carolyn Kinderlehrer. Thank you, Julie. Thank you to the incredible Button team: Tanesha, Sam, Riley. Thank you, Safia Elhillo, for your wise and thoughtful editing. Thank you, Amy Law, for your design genius. Thank you, Alyssa. Thank you, Susie. Thank you, Heather, for far too much to list here, so thank you for everything. Thank you, Marilyn and the Mercury Cafe. Thank you, Derrick and Write Bloody Publishing, for believing in me long before I believed in myself.

“To Whom It Definitely Concerns” and “Acceptance Speech After Setting the World Record in Goosebumps” were written based on prompts from Megan Falley’s writing workshop Poems That Don’t Suck.

“Instead of Depression” was inspired by a conversation with my therapist Julie, as was just about every other poem in the book.

“The Museum of Broken Relationships” was inspired by my ex and now dear friend, journalist Shannon Service, and her article “Hurts So Good: Considering Love and Science at the Museum of Broken Relationships,” which I really recommend reading. Additionally, please check out the Museum of Broken Relationships at Brokenships.com.

“See This Through” includes lines previously published in Lord of the Butterflies (Button Poetry, 2018) and Pansy (Write Bloody Publishing, 2015).

“The Year of No Grudges” includes lines previously published in Take Me With You (Penguin/Plume, 2018).

About the Author

Andrea Gibson (they/them/theirs) is a queer author of five full-length collections of poetry. Their book Lord of the Butterflies (Button Poetry, 2018) was the winner of The Independent Publisher’s Award as well as a Good Reads Choice Award Finalist. In 2018, Penguin Books published Take Me With You, an illustrated collection of Gibson’s most beloved quotes, and in 2019, Gibson co-authored their first nonfiction endeavor How Poetry Can Change Your Heart (Chronicle Books). Andrea served as the editor of We Will Be Shelter (Write Bloody Publishing, 2014), an anthology of social justice poetry whose proceeds are donated annually to nonprofits working to dismantle systems of oppression. Best known for their live performances, they have spent much of the last fifteen years on tour, often filling large-capacity rock clubs, thus helping to revolutionize the way poetry is appreciated culturally. In addition to their written work, Gibson has released seven full-length spoken word albums in collaboration with celebrated musicians. Their work strives to be a lifeline to the lonely, a megaphone in spaces of dangerous silence, and a permission slip to feel it all.