'All The Poems That Are Fit To Print'

Mix together playwright, screenwriter and poet and you get busy gal Laura Brienza. She runs the news and poetry website “All The Poems That Are Fit To Print,” a site that publishes poetry inspired by The New York Times. Let’s allow Laura to describe it in her own beautiful words:

“I began the project in 2010 unemployed, heartbroken, and living with my parents. I needed a way to change my life, so I decided to write one news-inspired poem per day for a year. 365 days and poems later, I was employed, attached, and living in New York City.”

“The site is now a weekly remix of the world’s top stories in poetry form. Recently, “All The Poems” has explored current events such as the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, Hurricane Sandy, the sanitation crisis in India, Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments, the Presidential election, gender relations in the US, and the HIV/AIDS problem in Tanzania.”

“All The Poems” is the perfect destination for readers who want to not only learn about the world, but interact creatively with it. The content covers all areas of news and varies in style, from the comedic (the Todd-Akin inspired “My Pussy Has a Super Power“) to the serious (the gun control flaws-inspired “Plead The Second“).

Here’s an example of the most recent poem:

From The New York Times

“She’s (Rarely) The Boss” by Nicholas D. Kristof

The Gist:

A new book from Facebook’s #2, Sheryl Sandberg, suggests that women need to become more assertive in order to achieve economic equality. In the USA, just 17% of Fortune 500 company board seats are held by women, and at the World Economic Forum this year, females made up only 17% of participants. In her book Lean In, Sandberg implores women to stop getting in their own way: “We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in…We internalize the negative messages we get throughout our lives, the messages that say it’s wrong to be outspoken, aggressive, more powerful than men. We lower our own expectations of what we can achieve.” A 2003 study of Carnegie Mellon MBA grads found that 57% of men tried to negotiate a higher initial salary offer, compared to only 7% of women. It seems that if women want more, the first step is to ask for it.

The Poem:

Ask

Ask and you shall receive
Demand and they will plead
for your name on the contract
your name on the dotted line
your name on the door
of the company’s top floor

Power suit
Power bun
Power heels
Power is fun

It’s not unladylike to negotiate
It’s not unladylike to raise the rate
of your brain’s juice per year
to make clear your time is not volunteered

It’s not unladylike to demand your mind
be treated as the rare find
it is and can be for their team
if it’s appraised and held in high esteem

To their first offer
just say no

In the direction of a pay bump
confidently go

If you have an idea or a plan
raise your hand

A woman who is sitting
cannot shatter a glass ceiling

So forsake games, tricks, frills, or masks
Be straight forward and simply, ask

____

SO Note: You can visit allthepoems.com to learn more about Laura and “All The Poems That Are Fit To Print.”

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David Dean

Publisher at Serial Optimist

David is the publisher of Serial Optimist and writer of things that hopefully makes people smile. You can also find him on HelloGiggles and Thought Catalog. He is a comedy lover and pop culture obsessive who loves crossing the line, a good story and original beauty.

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