New Shoes On A Dead Horse

by Sierra DeMulder

The Romans believed that an artist's inspiration came from a spirit, called a genius, that lived in the walls of the artist's home. This character appears throughout the book, providing charming commentary and biting insight on the young author's creative process and emotional path.

Genres: Poetry

65 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2012

About the author

Sierra DeMulder is an internationally-recognized poet, performer, and podcast host. She is a five-time published author, a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, the recipient of a McKnight Foundation fellowship, and the co-host of Just Break Up, a globally popular advice podcast that has been downloaded more than 4 million times.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister told me a soul mate is not the person
who makes you the happiest, but the one who
makes you feel the most. Who conducts your heart

to bang the loudest. Who can drag you giggling
with forgiveness from the cellar they locked you in.
It has always been you. You are the first

person I was afraid to sleep next to,
not because of the fear you would leave
in the night but because I didn't want to wake up

gracelessly. In the morning, I crawled over
your lumbering chest to wash my face and pinch
my cheeks and lay myself out like a still-life

beside you. Your new girlfriend is pretty
like the cover of a cookbook. I have said her name
into the empty belly of my apartment. Forgive me.

When I feel myself falling out of love
with you, I turn the record of your laughter
over, reposition the needle.

I have imagined our children. Forgive me. I made up
the best parts of you. Forgive me. When you told me
to look for you on my wedding day, to pause

on the altar for the sound of your voice
before sinking myself into the pond of another
love, forgive me. I mistook it for a promise.

("love, forgive me")

▴▴▴

many of these poems are about "the genius," and i wasn't sure what to make of them. i wish i had read the note sooner: "the romans believed that an artist's inspiration came from a spirit, called a genius, that lived in the walls of the artist's home."

i really enjoyed this collection. there's love & loss & some vague weirdness. it feels wonderful to find poems to vibe with.

my favorite little tidbit to think about is "thankfulnesss is the kitchen floor of love."

▴▴▴

Don't worry. Baseball practice has been out
for hours. In this town, children aren't allowed

out after dark and it is dusk. Walk to the center

of the diamond. Peel off the husk of your dress.
Sit down. Let first and third base guide your legs

away from each other, as simply as opening a pair

of scissors. The dugouts will drop their wooden jaws.
The dirt will roll over and blush beneath you. Spread the lips

of grass until you are buried, buried. You are the center

of the earth. You are what spins the record. You are
conducting this wild chain-link orchestra of heart. Touch

yourself. Do not think of anyone else.

("the field")

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

"New Shoes On A Dead Horse" I need this phrase tattooed on my ass. IT IS ME.

Sierra Demulder never disappoints. She has a refreshing and comforting way of talking about love and pain. I love her.

[Saiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

2015 Reading Challenge. Year of Poetry.

Sierra DeMulder is one of my favorite poets. I love her poems that I read online. I actually wanted to buy her first book but I got this one instead because I was dealing with my own writing process and wanted to know how hers was and how she took that as an inspiration too.

the poems are clever. imagery powerful and pummels into you. God I love few of the poems so much. if Sierra were my poet friend I would tell her , you get it. you fucking get it.

her poems are not shy. they are full of teeth and bites and that is exactly why I liked them.
bones below , her first book , is going to be even more awesome. I can't wait.

[Bree Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Sierra’s style of poetry. I haven’t read a collection from her yet, that I didn’t enjoy!

[Liz Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was read for the #readwomen month.
I really, really adore this collection. A few days ago I read her first collection,The Bones Below , and the writing here became much better within a short span of time. Some of these poems start with "The Genius...." a very effective way to begin, considering the themes she took a hold off in this book. I am very excited to see her perform more and more, hopefully she will be widely acknowledged, like she deserves.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He will say YOU
DO NOT NEED TO SUFFER ANYMORE
and she will laugh and laugh and her hair
will bob up and down like an excited puppy.
Because suffering is the bible she was sworn in on.
Because self-doubt was the ferry she took to get here
and yes, it did get her here, but she never
knew she could swim.”

[Udai · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes somethings hit you in the right places.

[sylvie brekke · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this collection of poems!! the imagery and metaphors were so beautiful and it was just such a joy to read.

“when no whale birthed himself from his year ducts, when the downstairs neighbors did not complain of flooding, he realized he was not the unnatural disaster he once was. his pain was no longer something one could drown in”

“i am standing in from a mirror. i am insulting myself out of habit and suddenly my mother stops me, ‘don’t say that sierra. if you think you are ugly, you are creating that ugliness inside you’”

[Travel Writing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having never heard of Sierra DeMulder, this book of poetry was a spectacular surprise.

The Perm
My father tells me this story now while crying.
He is softer now, a treadless tire.

ARRGGGHH! How gorgeous is that? Wildly gorgeous, that's how gorgeous it is.

And this...

On Watching Someone You Love
Love Someone Else
You are a souvenir shop, where he goes to remember how much people miss him when he is gone.

Random lines...

...a soulmate is not the person who makes you the happiest, but the one who makes you feel the most.

Must be like making love to a puppet show.

he realized that he was not
the unnatural disaster he once was.
His pain was no longer something
one could drown in.

When he cries- and he always cries
the way only a father of three women
does- his chest a tired buoy.

For years after him, you will let your heart
hang open like a soup kitchen. This I not
a bad thing, more a lesson in proportions.

I am thankful for the bed in your belly.
I was a weary traveler.

[jay k. ❤︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

damn near perfect. can’t remember the last time a poetry collection had me hooked quite like this.

[dănuț]

not my thing

[Elisa Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of poems. I don’t know how it came across when reading this in high school, but I can say as an adult these poems are honest, womanly, and midwestern.

[is there blood? · Rating 1 out of 5]

no blood

[Ashish Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the poems at the beginning of this collection more beautiful than the poems that came later on.

[Ronnie Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, Sierra Demulder's second poetry collection, is a vast improvement over her first book. The writing is solid. The craft is polished. Absolute brilliance drips from page after page. Still, there is an inconsistency in this collection that leaves me wanting more. I feel like I am watching Demulder stutter-step into greatness. There are so many mind-blowing lines, so many lines that linger for days and so many poems that gut-punch you with familiar honesty. Nothing is off limits. Nothing is held back.

In many ways, this collection echoes the strongest American writers of our time. In years to come, it will be praised as a turning point for young women in poetry programs across the country. What I take away is the irreconcilable distance between Demulder's writing one year ago and the incredible growth shouting from the pages of this collection. If this is any indication, Demulder is here to stay, and she's only going to get better. You owe it to yourself to read this book. You owe it to yourself to get in on the ground floor. You owe it to yourself to make Demulder a constant in conversations about the best young writers in this country.

[Nabila Cyrilla Imani (bookcabinets) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sierra wrote it with brutal honesty and such intimate story that can make us feel a lot of emotion piled up at the same time. My favorites are On Watching Someone You Love Love Someone Else and Love Forgive Me.

"You will want to call him. You will go as far as holding the phone in your hand, imagine telling him unimaginable things like—You are always ticking inside of me and I dream of you more often than I don’t. My body is a dead language and you pronounce each word perfectly. Do not call him. Fall asleep to the hum of the VCR. She must make him happy. She must be—she must be his favorite place in Minneapolis. You are a souvenir shop, where he goes to remember how much people miss him when he is gone."
--On Watching Someone You Love Love Someone Else, Sierra DeMulder.

[Erin Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He will say YOU / DO NOT NEED TO SUFFER ANYMORE / and she will laugh and laugh and her hair / will bob up and down like an excited puppy. / Because suffering is the bible she was sworn in on. / Because self-doubt was the ferry she took to get here / and yes, it did get her here, but she never / knew she could swim." -"The Genius Swims the English Channel"

This collection is a work of art. Sierra's words are always punchy, gripping, and full of meaning, and I'm so grateful I get to experience them.

[Scott Holm · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing work of poetry that cuts right down to the soul, grabs onto it, and shakes it around. Each word is carefully chosen and crafted to evoke a specific emotion. Sierra is a master of her craft.

[Raina · Rating 5 out of 5]

After falling in love with Sierra DeMulder's work when she performed live in Chicago, I bought all four of her books. Her words are just as breathtaking on the page as they are on stage.

[Moriah Conant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Sierra’s work. In this book, two of my favorites were “The Genius Cries” and “The Genius Shares His Opinion of Astrology”.

Highly recommend.

[Lauren Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have said it and I will say it again: I love Sierra DeMulder.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect.

[Kyle Wild · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of poems that are in turns stunning, haunting, enlightening, and visceral.

[Cary S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its only flaw is that it's too short...

[literaryelise · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Because suffering is the bible she was sworn in on. Because self-doubt was the ferry she took to get here and yes, it did get her here, but she never knew she could swim.”

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Color p. 35
Girl p. 40
The Genius Shares His Opinion of Astrology p. 42
The Genius Cries p. 58
Reassurance to Sierra in High School p. 67
Evolution in Nine Parts p. 71

[V.S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

a few really standout pieces for sure! but overall it felt a bit forced, especially the cadence of the endings of the poems.

[Katelyn Shouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so good hearing Sierra read these & listening on my walk. Perfect escape for the day.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each and everyone of her pieces had at least one portion that gut-punched me.
5/5 do recomend

[Lizette · Rating 4 out of 5]

El título me encanta. Tiene poemas adorables sobre sus padres, su hermana y algunos amores.