First Friday Rec: Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns

Title: Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns
Author: Andrea Gibson
Genre: poetry, nonfiction, reflective
Pages: 92
Publication Date: 2008
StoryGraph* Moods: emotional, reflective, inspiring
How I Stumbled Upon This Book: Like many, I heard Gibson’s poetry before I read it. About a decade and a half ago, a friend told me I HAD to come with her to see Gibson perform – and I never looked back.
Other Books by this author: The Madness Vase, Pansy, Lord of the Butterflies, You Better Be Lightning, Take Me With You, How Poetry Can Change Your Heart, Lord of the Butterflies: Writing Prompts & Stories. Also edited We Will Be Shelter: Poems for Survival.
*StoryGraph also offers content warnings.

Description: In their first collection of poetry, Gibson covers topics like a soldier’s lingering psychological wounds, childhood bullying, the repercussions of assault, and love. They do so with “a bold and unforgettable internal voice rich with the kind of questioning that inspires action,” all with unflinching honesty. Gibson leaves it all on the page.

This collection holds twenty-six poems, mostly free verse. These are poems that Gibson also performs, so the style can sometimes be off-putting for some. That being said, Gibson’s use of language, while often straightforward (as is common in performance) is also incredibly poetic/figurative – and whether reading or listening, it’s easy to hold on.

Why I recommend this book: There are poems in this book that still give me goosebumps, even after reading them dozens of times and hearing Gibson perform them over and over. Don’t just take my word for it – whenever I include work by Gibson in my poetry class, my students always react by asking for more.

If you are someone struggling, and can’t stand the platitudes often espoused as a result that are ‘supposed to make you feel better,’ Gibson is your poet. While they come to these difficult topics with grace, tenderness, and, often, joy – they don’t do so condescendingly. They offer a different viewpoint that allows for both sorrow and joy to sit side by side.

I also recommend the rest of Gibson’s books. Often times, the first collection is the most interesting because the writer has spent the most time writing and revising it before publication. The rest can often feel hurried. That is not the case with Gibson – they just get better and better. I merely chose this one because it was Gibson’s first, and my first of theirs.

“Andrea Gibson does not just show up to pluck your heart strings, [they stick] around to tune them. If being floored is new to you, ya might wanna grab a cushion. Beware the highway in [their] grace and the crowbar in [their] verse.” ~ Buddy Wakefield, author of Stunt Water

“I thought, ‘The flowers, save the flowers…’

I never thought for a second
we wouldn’t save the people”
~ Andrea Gibson, Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns

“Because anyone who has ever sat in lotus for more than a few seconds
knows it takes a hell of a lot more muscle to stay then to go.”
~ Andrea Gibson, Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns

My favorite lines of Gibson’s (click the link for a YouTube video of their performance):

“and I know my heart is a broken freezer chest
‘cause I can never keep anything frozen.
So no, I am not “always crying.”
I am just thawing outside of the lines.”
~ Andrea Gibson, “Letter to a Playground Bully from Andrea (age 8)“