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Best Poems Written by Emma Kalliway

Below are the all-time best Emma Kalliway poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

When You Are a Number In High School

When you are in high school
And you want to grow up to be something you consider even a little bit significant
Your life turns into a list of priorities 
And if your priorities do not result in a good enough gpa 
Or can't fit into tiny boxes on an activities chart 
Then they aren't worth your time 

When you are in high school 
And you want to grow up to be something you consider even a little bit significant
Your parents and teachers and counselors opinions will consume you

When you are in highschool you create your own consequence filter 
All of your obligations go through the filter 
The ones with the biggest consequences you do first 
And the smallest consequences go last
Usually the smaller consequences ones are 
Eating enough
Sleeping enough
And keeping check on your mental health

When you are in high school 
And you want to grow up to be something 
You lie to your parents a lot
You tell them you’re fine
You tell them you go to bed at 10 every night
You tell them the worst part about your day was a class you don't like 
When in reality it was the overwhelming stress of pleasing the adults in your life 

When you are in high school
And you want to grow up 
You earn an obsession with numbers 
Including your  
SAT score 
ACT score
GPA 
AP test scores 
Every big lest 
Every little quiz
Every assignment you put in a basket 
Every notebook you spent diligent hours perfecting
Because all you work doesn't matter if the numbers aren't high enough 

When you’re in high school 
And you want to grow up to be something you consider even a little bit significant 
do NOT  stop and ask who you are doing all this for 
You aren't doing this for yourself 
Just go to class walk through the halls get the good grades
Score high on the SAT, ACT, AP 
You can live for yourself 
When you are doing something significant with your life

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

Manstration

can we just talk about all the famous male chefs?

like hi guys , could you go back to the garage where you belong and fix my car?

next thing you know men are going to want to be fashion designers and hairstylists

when everyone knows men are only good for being lousy politicians and chopping firewood.

men will be walking up the streets wearing glitter instead of saw dust

make up instead of beards

guys

quit acting like you are worth more than your penises and broad shoulders


does it make you uncomfortable ? men?

being addressed like that?

because if that little bit does imagine this!


men sit with your legs crosses

men don't take up a lot of space 

you only deserve so much room so make yourself small

don’t speak up unless you have something important to say

and don’t assume what you have to say is important

men learn how to sew, cook, and clean

men worry about your weight

worry about your hair

worry about your cloths

if you want anyone to respect you make your voice deeper

if you want women to acknowledge you 

dress and stand like women

men your bodily functions are gross try and hide them



BE PREPARED 

for people to tell you they accept all of the body types

but think that about 5 body types are all of them

be prepared to walk up the streets and tone out

“heyyy boy what's your hurry?” “ damn , that ass though” 

also when walking up streets 

be prepared to hold your keys on clenched fist with the other in your pocket clenching pepper spray

there is a 1 in 6 chance you are going to get raped on your way home from the office


men,

next time you want to joke around and tell a girl to go the kitchen and make you a sandwich

you had better put on a skirt first

this way she will be able to acknowledge that you are talking to her

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

Sexuality and the Church

Those sinners in that night club in florida, if you ask me, finally got what was comin for them 

When my father said this to me at our dinner table i could have cried
I could have spoke sermons to him that i have spent years working on
These was the chance i had been waiting for for five years
To tell him everything i knew about being gay in the church 
This was the moment that i had filled 27 documents on my google drive for 
But i didn't say anything
I Scoffed, shook my head, and ate my green peas

This was my chance to say 
Dad The bible says
that we are all created equal in his image
The bible says
thou shall not judge
The bible says 
no sin is greater than another

Dad if it is true that all sin is equal 
doesn't that mean that you judging someone 
for committing what you believe is a sin
is equal to them committing that sin

Dad I have heard you say you can not love another man as a Christian
because they are gay and gay is a sin
But you love your children who disobey you
and disobeying your parents is a sin

This people in the night club got what was comin for them
But you wouldnt say that if someone shot up an elementary school

when he the man who is gay 
and you the man who judged him for it 
are standing together at the pearly gates
god is not going to see you  as your sexuality dad
he is going to see you as a sinner
and he is going to forgive you

the bible says forgive dad
not once not twice not seven times 
but infinitely
the bible says
love thy neighbor as thine self dad
it does not say
love thy neighbor as thine self unless thy neighbor is gay

according to the bible Jesus did not die on the cross to save straight people 
he died on the cross to save sinners
Jesus did not come to earth
to save people who are perfect
he came to save sinners
he did came and spent his time with prostitutes and tax collectors

the bible says we all deserve hell and damnation
it doesn't say some sinners deserve more hell and damnation than others
when he was born the gay man and you were the man who would judge him for being 
gay
Neither of you was born better dad
And neither of you was born more pure

Jesus did not die on the cross to save straight people
he died on the cross to save sinners


Dad There is no segregation of sin at the pearly gates
You can not teach a religion of love 
If what you preach is hate

But i didnt say any of that
I scoffed 
I shook my head
And i ate my green peas

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

Politics and Coffee

Howard Schultz CEO of Starbucks say
"Starbucks should be a gun free experience"
He announces that guns will no longer be permitted in Starbucks stores or in outdoor seating areas
Howard Schultz CEO of Starbucks tells people buying stocks with him
that if they don't want to support him in his support of gay lesbian marriage 
to take their money somewhere else

For so many people Starbucks is about coffee
and coffee is not about rather or not you want to carry a gun with you
and coffee is not about rather or not you want to marry a man or a woman
and coffee simply is not about politics

But For Howard Schultz Starbucks is not just coffee
it his his lively hood
and if he wants to say 
My lively hood does not want you walking on it with a gun in your holster
that is okay
and if wants to say 
my lively hood says you can marry whoever you want
if you don't leave my lively hood alone
he can and that is okay

people are angry at hie 
for concerning his business with moral issues rather than money
but is it not true that if he wants his business somewhere he can put it somewhere

him telling people to take their money elsewhere if they don't support gay lesbian marriage 
 is like him saying
Who you want to marry is more important than how much money i am making
and him saying if you want to carry a gun don't come to my store
is like him saying
i care more about the comfort of the majority of my customers
more than how much money i can get from you.

coffee is universal
 different people enjoy coffee
teenage girls and boys like coffee
old people and young people like coffee
my four year old brother sits in my lap in the morning and says
sissy Emma  love you can i have some of your coffee
straight people like coffee and gay people like coffee
Christians like coffee and pagans like coffee
republicans like coffee and democrats like coffee
coffee is simply not about politics 
for those of us who are not using it for lively hood 
so we should not make it be

Parents who like guns and want their kids to go to school
take their kids to school 
even though guns are not aloud on school grounds
so people who like guns
who want to buy their coffee from Starbucks 
should still buy coffee from Starbucks

if you like your coffee from Starbucks 
you should buy your coffee from Starbucks 
rather or not you want to marry a boy or a girl

for you, coffee simply is not about politics

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

Granite, the Terrifying Nothing

Every summer in august my family gets into nicest car 
And starts our five our decent into my sage scented hell 
Granite, Oregon 

Granite is a bustling city with a population of 13 
All of whom live in shacks made of wood that came from trees older than this country
This 13 is Made up of, hermits, hunters, and war heros
And luckily the only three people my family has ever met are the hermits 

We know the lady of the lodge who keeps it clean in return for a place to live 
And enough money to fund her meth addiction and we know her parents 
Bat faced mom who smells like cheap perfume 
And beer bellied dad that smells like cigarettes because once a week on saturday he dirves to the nearest town 
Half an hour away 
To buy enough to feed his weekly fix 

If Granite were a color it would be brown 
The only road is dirt 
And the only grass is dead 
Even the evergreens in granite are either burnt, or beige 

There is nothing beautiful in granite. 
It is not the escape from the city my parents think it is 
Our family goes to granite to become wholesome
And leaves empty 

The reason those 13 live in granite 
Is because there is so much going on in their own minds 
That the only place they can stand to be 
Is a place where there is nothing 

And that is what granite is 
It is a small, insignificant, terrifying nothing. 
It is where broken people go, so that they won't matter 
Not to each other 
Not to anyone

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

The Best Super Hero

Hold on to your seat kids
for you are about to meet me!
I am the super hero who can be
any thing you want me to be!

I can make you be a bear
or a giraffe or a hound!
I can make you be famous
or fly all around!

I can be your best friend
when you feel you have none,
and even on the rainiest days
I can bring you the sun.

I am always here for you
at your beck and call,
I'll be the hero you need
to be the ruler of all.

But just so you know
I can be the side kick too
because maybe sometimes
the hero is you!

I can be the hero you need
to make your dreams, too
and let you be the one
that makes them come true.

I can be there for you 
day and night
I can shoo away your troubles,
worries, and fright.

because I have no here lair 
or home or station.
My super here name?
It's imagination.

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

When You Live In a House With a Man Who

When you live in a house with a man who your mother loves
be grateful 

When you live in a house with a man who has been providing for you and our mother since you were six
thank him for everything he has given you

When you live in a house with a man who you have had shaky feelings about since you were six
make sure that if you ever cry do it in private
because it kills you to see your mother not get along with him

When you live in a house with a man who with just one look can make you feel like scum
try to do better and be upset when you are alone

When you live ina house with a man who makes you want to feel alone
find a place to  go where you can be alone 

When you live in a house with a man who makes you bite your lip so hard you bleed because you don't want to cry in front of him
don't complain about the blood to anyone 
keep it a secret keep everything g a secret 

When you live ina house with your man who makes you want to bottle every last emotion inside of you and your mother asks if you feel like you are getting along with him any better and there are so many things you want to tell her about how he makes you feel 
don't 
say you are doing fine 

When you live in a house with a man who makes you feel like his burden 
apologize
when you live in a house with a man who makes you feel like a problem
apologize

When you live in a house with a man who makes you feel like nothing more than a burden a problem and a waste of space
refrain from telling him that you did not ask to be his burden and that you do not want to be his burden 
refrain from telling him you don't want to be considered a failure
do not tell him you are trying your best because obviously your best is not good enough for him 
do not tell him anything about how he really makes you feel because he does not care anyways
do not tell him anything

because if you live in a house with a man who makes you feel like nothing more than a burden problem and waste of space 
he does not deserve to hear anything you have to say
he had his chance to care
he gave it up
so do not even let him know that in return you have given up on him

Details | Emma Kalliway Poem

Around the Fire

Three men standing bearded and beer bellied around a fire 
Repeat the same phrases regarding politics and morals 
Think they make a difference preaching to the choir