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GRIT: a poetry collection
The polite transphobia from adult women is no longer keeping you hostage as you sob an earthquake in your ex-boyfriend's car.
Grit is a transgender coming of age story. There are no beautiful rainbows here, no whispers, but raw cries from somewhere primal.
"Silas' words dart in and out like a scalpel revealing layers of flesh that have been given-or-taken-by lovers, parents, cruelty, and fate." - Sean Felix
Grit is a transgender coming of age story. There are no beautiful rainbows here, no whispers, but raw cries from somewhere primal.
"Silas' words dart in and out like a scalpel revealing layers of flesh that have been given-or-taken-by lovers, parents, cruelty, and fate." - Sean Felix
61 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2020
39 people are currently reading
1173 people want to read
About the author
silas denver melvin
4 books614 followerssilas denver melvin is a transsexual poet from New Hampshire. His debut poetry book, Grit, published with Sunday Mornings at The River Press, was released in November of 2020.
His work has been hosted by Doghouse Press, Antler Velvet, The Candid Review, Hominum Journal, The Garlic Press, Bleating Thing, Toyon Literary, Bullshit Lit, and other outlets.
silas is a Pushcart Prize and two-time Best of the Net nominee. He is currently the head poetry editor for Beaver Magazine.
His work has been hosted by Doghouse Press, Antler Velvet, The Candid Review, Hominum Journal, The Garlic Press, Bleating Thing, Toyon Literary, Bullshit Lit, and other outlets.
silas is a Pushcart Prize and two-time Best of the Net nominee. He is currently the head poetry editor for Beaver Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
January 5, 2021
impeccable. its so fucking beautiful and gut wrenching. it's gonna make you GAHhhhhhhh. i marked something from nearly every page bc its so fucking good. also it's just a next level experience to read trans poetry, it's so relatable, and related. everyone go get it!! and read it!! i registered on am*zon for this book.
some tasty snippets 4 u:
"i am a good beggar. have the teeth for it. knelt for you for my knighting. waiting, a trembling dog, for you to name me beloved or beheaded."
"you wake up in the same dysphoric body you always are & kiss your wrists sweetly because no one else is here to do it & you ask god for her blessing, please, one day, here, to be loved & loving & unbodied & she is quiet like she always is"
some tasty snippets 4 u:
"i am a good beggar. have the teeth for it. knelt for you for my knighting. waiting, a trembling dog, for you to name me beloved or beheaded."
"you wake up in the same dysphoric body you always are & kiss your wrists sweetly because no one else is here to do it & you ask god for her blessing, please, one day, here, to be loved & loving & unbodied & she is quiet like she always is"
February 20, 2023
a massive win for the trans poet community.
December 1, 2020
"a cowboy is all the men you were
afraid of when you were little
because you knew you wanted to grow
up to be like them & you knew
kids like you weren't supposed to
want to grow up to be cowboys."
Grit is melvin's love letter to the trans masc experience, of its forging. with all the scrapes and bloodied knees that come along with any good romance.
June 4, 2023
“you take your medication with the syrup / from a can of oranges & your body is still your body / & really, there is no metaphor for that”
ow. this is probably the first trans writing I’ve engaged with that actually meets me where I’m at — lots of focus on the uglier parts of transition, feelings of shame, fears of disappointing your family, grappling with dysphoria, trying to express your gender through sheer force of will when you still aren’t on hormones. all the fun stuff! it’s pretty rare for people to write about this because it simply is not flattering subject matter. it’s primal, it’s raw, and that’s how a lot of Melvin’s writing feels too. he puts that ugliness right in your face and doesn’t give you an easy out.
a short read overall (less than 70 pages), and some of the poems don’t quite reach the heights of others, but when it hits home, it really hits home. maybe it’s the nonbinary privilege (lmao) but I definitely enjoyed engaging with Melvin’s poetics of trans-masculinity.
ow. this is probably the first trans writing I’ve engaged with that actually meets me where I’m at — lots of focus on the uglier parts of transition, feelings of shame, fears of disappointing your family, grappling with dysphoria, trying to express your gender through sheer force of will when you still aren’t on hormones. all the fun stuff! it’s pretty rare for people to write about this because it simply is not flattering subject matter. it’s primal, it’s raw, and that’s how a lot of Melvin’s writing feels too. he puts that ugliness right in your face and doesn’t give you an easy out.
a short read overall (less than 70 pages), and some of the poems don’t quite reach the heights of others, but when it hits home, it really hits home. maybe it’s the nonbinary privilege (lmao) but I definitely enjoyed engaging with Melvin’s poetics of trans-masculinity.
Read
June 3, 2023ah, silas denver melvin, iconic on tumblr and among certain cliques of dykes and transmen at my university. seeing the occasional excerpt, i had pretty high expectations going into this collection, and i wasn't disappointed. y'all know i don't rate poetry, but i really enjoyed a lot of these pieces.
my favorite and in my opinion the best poem in the collection was "hey cowboy", and among the other favorites are "metaphor for the carwreck that isnt a carwreck at all" and "getaway car". i felt these poems in my teeth. silas knows how to make language hack away at you. there is something very young and raw in his writing. echoes of palahniuk and siken (who is, of course, referenced). could definitely be more polished, but this is a debut collection, and all this to say i'm excited to see what he does next.
my favorite and in my opinion the best poem in the collection was "hey cowboy", and among the other favorites are "metaphor for the carwreck that isnt a carwreck at all" and "getaway car". i felt these poems in my teeth. silas knows how to make language hack away at you. there is something very young and raw in his writing. echoes of palahniuk and siken (who is, of course, referenced). could definitely be more polished, but this is a debut collection, and all this to say i'm excited to see what he does next.
November 16, 2022
feels like a punch in the gut.
February 15, 2022
read this first in bed at 2am and then again, sleep deprived and sucking down a 5pm coffee all of which is to say there's a kind of giddy liminality that silas' words lend themselves to and it was such a privilege to read this collection .
favourites:
> Rejection Of The Idea That You’re Made Special On Grounds Of Endangerment
> A Valentine’s Day Spent Home, Alone
> Window Half Open
favourites:
> Rejection Of The Idea That You’re Made Special On Grounds Of Endangerment
> A Valentine’s Day Spent Home, Alone
> Window Half Open
September 11, 2025
From "In Response To 'When You Have Children'":
& you think: i will never be cruel enough to
be god i will never make this ditch something
hospitable i will never remove myself to make
more of this forever sick
December 12, 2023
transsexual & homosexual & devastating. it's an honor to bleed at the hands of such an amazing & talented poet+cowboy. loved every word of it!
December 2, 2020
True to its title, this collection gets under your nails and in your boots; it sticks with you. Silas is raw and poignant with his words and I can't wait to see what else comes from him in the future.
April 4, 2023
i am not strong enough to read gay teenager poetry
June 8, 2023
9/6/23
your hands, touching me, that could
smother any fire, could clench quick as a snake strike.
your hands polishing me until i bleed honey into the
mattress.
i came back to this with a lot on my mind and i'm so fucking glad. i made good on my vow to write all over it and underline almost every line in a poem, going through it slowly, only when i felt like i could really get into it...if you know what i mean. it was so worth it.
my friend said this book is like... vibrates out of skin and yeah, yeah i think that's the perfect way to describe how i feel about this.
i'm so so grateful to have access to something like this when almost everyday i open my phone and find something new on the news that makes me feel eternally sick and anxious to say a word to anyone at all.
so, to silas denver melvin...hey cowboy, thank you.
~~~~~
16/12/22
definitely need to go back and write all over this and just live in it for a bit.
but wow there's a LOT here...
my favourites were 'Straight Boys & The F*ggots That Forgive Them', 'Rejection Of The Idea That You're Made Special On Grounds of Social Endangerment' and 'Hybristophilia: the Pistol is for Lovers'.
here's some quotes (includes some references to transphobia + homophobia):
maybe you want someone to call you on the phone & say "hey cowboy" & really mean it.
maybe you should ask for a second opinion.
we, concrete angels, slipped out
& up & away
we went & it was still no better
than here.
he takes you into his hands the
same as always, unforgiving, and after it, he says
[ ]
cautious and joking-like, wants to get away with it,
and maybe it's good
there is a fight upstairs and you've
been tossed in with your hands tied.
name yourself for the
first time in your life and wait
for the audience to gasp in horror
when the monster walks out
alive.
your hands, touching me, that could
smother any fire, could clench quick as a snake strike.
your hands polishing me until i bleed honey into the
mattress.
i came back to this with a lot on my mind and i'm so fucking glad. i made good on my vow to write all over it and underline almost every line in a poem, going through it slowly, only when i felt like i could really get into it...if you know what i mean. it was so worth it.
my friend said this book is like... vibrates out of skin and yeah, yeah i think that's the perfect way to describe how i feel about this.
i'm so so grateful to have access to something like this when almost everyday i open my phone and find something new on the news that makes me feel eternally sick and anxious to say a word to anyone at all.
so, to silas denver melvin...hey cowboy, thank you.
~~~~~
16/12/22
definitely need to go back and write all over this and just live in it for a bit.
but wow there's a LOT here...
my favourites were 'Straight Boys & The F*ggots That Forgive Them', 'Rejection Of The Idea That You're Made Special On Grounds of Social Endangerment' and 'Hybristophilia: the Pistol is for Lovers'.
here's some quotes (includes some references to transphobia + homophobia):
maybe you want someone to call you on the phone & say "hey cowboy" & really mean it.
maybe you should ask for a second opinion.
we, concrete angels, slipped out
& up & away
we went & it was still no better
than here.
he takes you into his hands the
same as always, unforgiving, and after it, he says
[ ]
cautious and joking-like, wants to get away with it,
and maybe it's good
there is a fight upstairs and you've
been tossed in with your hands tied.
name yourself for the
first time in your life and wait
for the audience to gasp in horror
when the monster walks out
alive.
January 2, 2021
the closer to my own experience, the more poetry seems to hurt. it's difficult to accept the reality of why every poem in this collection made me cry and have to take a break and go for a run before continuing on. where I am now in my life I don't think I'll ever be at peace with myself as something different than what the people I love most envisioned, I'm barely out to myself. reading poetry like this is both tormenting and nurturing me, there's some sort of masochistic pleasure in being flayed bare with words even if it's only in the privacy of my own mind.
can't recommend this enough and can't wait to read whatever new project Melvin creates.
can't recommend this enough and can't wait to read whatever new project Melvin creates.
April 9, 2022
you tell your mother im sorry, i love my sadness so immensely, i don’t know who i am without it & what you mean is i have not come home without expecting someone else to be in my spot at the dinner table in so long, im not sure i was ever born to belong in the first place
some of these poems are so strongly hitting, old world? faggots that forgive them? twenty?? these poems feel so alive, silas really making me want to claw out of my skin here
some of these poems are so strongly hitting, old world? faggots that forgive them? twenty?? these poems feel so alive, silas really making me want to claw out of my skin here
March 3, 2022
thank you….. so many feelings….. i shook and had to stop bawling amidst class… glad that i felt so….. thank you……
also
OUTLAW TRADITION NEEDS TO BE PINNED EVERYWHERE AND PEOPLE NEEDS TO JUSTBGULP THAT PROSES AJD YOINKMOWNFO DONSTH WITH IT AOSOSIDUKAJSJDISOSIH
also
OUTLAW TRADITION NEEDS TO BE PINNED EVERYWHERE AND PEOPLE NEEDS TO JUSTBGULP THAT PROSES AJD YOINKMOWNFO DONSTH WITH IT AOSOSIDUKAJSJDISOSIH
March 15, 2023
"(...) name yourself for the
first time in your whole life and wait
for the audience to gasp in horror
when the monster walks out
alive."
Reading a trans and queer poetry collection is a special sort of delight. Not all poems worked for me, but the ones that did hit hard. Damn, but this was good.
first time in your whole life and wait
for the audience to gasp in horror
when the monster walks out
alive."
Reading a trans and queer poetry collection is a special sort of delight. Not all poems worked for me, but the ones that did hit hard. Damn, but this was good.
October 13, 2022
Phe-nom-enal!
November 25, 2020
this was really good, i look forward to rereading in the future and any more work from silas. this was excellent.
faves: A Valentines Day Spent Home, Alone and Twenty (the line "you have outgrown your gender and your jeans" hit me like a truck)
faves: A Valentines Day Spent Home, Alone and Twenty (the line "you have outgrown your gender and your jeans" hit me like a truck)
July 29, 2022
i've read his other stuff he posts on social media. i like it when queer authors do not censor themselves to make it easier for cishet readers -- his writing is unapologetically and undeniably about the gay & trans experience.
November 24, 2020
a collection that has to be devoured. brutal & honest. obsessed. it will now become a bedside book :)
April 9, 2021
Normally don't really read poetry in my spare time but this is so good!! Cuts your heart open. Also I love all the cowboy references
Read
September 19, 2023finally got my hands on this. can't rate yet; i need more time with it. i feel like all the wind has been knocked out of me. the homesick/let dead dogs lie transition hurts so good. forever pained by the dog motif.
"you put a bullet between his eyes / & here's the bullet / & jesus does he wag his tail"
"you put a bullet between his eyes / & here's the bullet / & jesus does he wag his tail"
November 7, 2023
god this hurts. really really good debut
November 16, 2022
Softly raw, terribly hopeful. A piece of transgender history
January 13, 2024
i read "hey cowboy" a while ago and it has stuck with me ever since
July 29, 2024
I absolutely adored this book and it’s so full of queer experiences and feelings that were brought back to the surface for me. It’s raw and beautiful
January 2, 2023
gripping & painfully beautiful. Recommend this to all my friends.
December 16, 2023
oh my goodness this is a thing of such awful beauty i want to eat it alive
November 16, 2023
Favourite thing I've ever read, I've annotated this to death since getting it. There's so much that is real and raw in here that speaks to me deeply.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews