I Wrote A Poem Response To Taylor Swift's Vogue Poem

Taylor Swift no longer gives interviews. With the release of her 2017 album reputation, Swift decided that the best PR strategy was radio silence — a strategy employed by none other than Beyoncé. She graces the cover of British Vogue's January 2018 issue, but she did not give an interview. Instead, she gave a poem.

This is all part of Swift's new narrative — instead of handing her words to journalists and writers, she is self-publishing. For reputation, she published her own magazine, which features a foreword from Swift herself. It also featured paintings and poems from the pop star, who has seemingly shrunk from public attention ever since her long-simmering feud with Kanye West erupted in 2016.

Swift's poem for Vogue is titled "The Trick To Holding On." It's about survival, and the conclusion of the poem is that a great way to "hold on" is actually to let go. It's a fitting message from Swift, who both insists that she's above it all and not quite over it on reputation.

The opening stanza reads, "Let go of the ones who hurt you/Let go of the ones you outgrow/Let go of the words they hurl your way/as you’re walking out the door."

In response to Swift's poem, which lasts for four neat stanzas, I have written my own. I have declined to write a post about this poem — there will be no further explanation. There will only be a bad poem.

I don't have a lot of nice things
But I do know
That if you take care of them
You can keep them, usually

Even if you break them
Really, a lot of things can be fixed!
Cobblers fix shoes all the time
I fixed a necklace once
Also, if you go to a hotel,
Did you know they have sewing kits available?
You can use that to fix a hole or a button that fell off

This is why we can have nice things, baby
Because you break them almost inevitably
But then you can take them away
And get them fixed!

The only thing you can't really fix
Is those Christmas ornaments
That look like little metallic moons
Those things will shatter
And then you're fucked
So, because it's Christmas time
I'll tell you
(Because you always tell the truth at Christmas)

That Christmas ornaments are the only nice things you really can't have

But you can fix most nice things
This is why we can have nice things, baby