it was never going to be okay

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simpson is skilled at revealing how complex desire can be: whether it’s the lust to be a mother, the experience of toxic male desire, the shaming from others for being a sexual being, or the pain that comes with being fetishized or rejected. Nearly a million and a half users say they 'feel at home' and 'finally found a place where people understand them'. As seen in the poem “00088614,” simpson repeats the numbers over and over again to address the trauma of just being a number. They have an impressive ability to translate liminal emotions into words; the structure of so many of their poems is so engaging and viscerally felt. When a poet cannot rely on vocal intonation or pauses, the skill of conveying this on the page by using italics and line breaks becomes a very necessary skill—one that simpson appears to have mastered.

simpson uses these different weapons to discuss the pain of intergenerational trauma, racism, and transphobia. I mean I’m getting heart palpitations from poor health and want to do all these things to improve it and I make all these plans to do it but when it comes to it I just can’t no matter how hard I try and I’m stuck in a viscous cycle of telling myself I’m going to do better and then hating myself at the end of the day. When you are a little kid, nobody tells you that getting the degrees and the jobs does not warranty you the feeling of growth and final satisfaction that you think you are aiming for. Each time I read it through, I was startled by moments of beauty and insight I hadn’t noticed the time before.The opening poem, “sea glass,” has the build-up of a tidal wave, beginning with a "dreamy hot day, / beachside stomach full of fruit, / skin kissed by the sun. They do a remarkable job at depicting the range in perspectives of queer identity and experience and writing about this, and their other experiences and identities, with grace and tact. Another helpful way to feel like you belong is to meditate, which provides a spiritual sense of being connected to everyone and everything.

simpson resides on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlilwəta’Ɂɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nations peoples, currently and colonially known as Vancouver, BC. Their concrete poems are effective in how they challenge the reader and make them think differently. themes of intergenerational and individual trauma, queerness/transness/two-spirit Indigenous identity, and healing. Content is for informational purposes only and is not meant to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with your physician or mental health professional.Like simpson’s moments of humour slipping into various poems, these songs are dropped in like gifts and add a second layer to the poems for those familiar with the music. As the poems move towards the exploration of sex, desire, and all that goes with it, simpson’s dry humour sneaks in. Released on 6 December 2021 by global animal welfare organisation, Four Paws, the report assessed 111 brands across different markets, including Australia, on their commitment to animal welfare and sourcing transparency. You can maintain your privacy or say you know they want you to be healthy and happy even if they disagree with the means you’re choosing to help you feel better, so you’d like them to respect your choice as much as you respect theirs. As a spoken-word performer, simpson’s ability to be deliberate about the way their words sound, both when spoken aloud and when read, is a powerful tactic.