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Today Means Amen
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2016)Vivid, courageous, and candid, the poetry of Sierra deMulder speaks straight to the heart.
Dear
Whoever you are,
However you got here,
This is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you.
These are the opening lines of "Today Means Amen," YouTube star Sierra deMulder’s immensely powerful and virally popular poem, which lends its title to this collection. Like her fellow Millennial poets Tyler Knot Gregson, Clementine von Radics, and Lang Leav, Sierra has the gift of speaking directly to the reader. “Today Means Amen” has become an anthem of sorts to thousands, who find themselves reflected in its pain, its fierceness, its tenderness — but also in its triumphant culminating
You made it
You made it
You made it
Here.
The poems in Sierra's new book explore the rocky terrains of love, family, and womanhood with this same remarkable honesty and generosity. Today Means Amen brings this important young poet's work to an even broader audience.
Dear
Whoever you are,
However you got here,
This is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you.
These are the opening lines of "Today Means Amen," YouTube star Sierra deMulder’s immensely powerful and virally popular poem, which lends its title to this collection. Like her fellow Millennial poets Tyler Knot Gregson, Clementine von Radics, and Lang Leav, Sierra has the gift of speaking directly to the reader. “Today Means Amen” has become an anthem of sorts to thousands, who find themselves reflected in its pain, its fierceness, its tenderness — but also in its triumphant culminating
You made it
You made it
You made it
Here.
The poems in Sierra's new book explore the rocky terrains of love, family, and womanhood with this same remarkable honesty and generosity. Today Means Amen brings this important young poet's work to an even broader audience.
112 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
60 people are currently reading
5057 people want to read
About the author
Sierra DeMulder
7 books499 followersSierra 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
January 25, 2016
Today Means Amen is a short book full of poems.
Different stories, different poems.
The poems are interesting, more a story than real poetry.
The poems touched me. The thoughts of the author touched me.
The book was about lost love, about children growing up too fast, about parenthood.
About bumpy roads,
About strangers in the subway that understands us,
Nostalgia about the past.
Thinking about lazy Sundays and loving parents.
The themes of the book are so relating to your life.
"Dear you:
Whoever you are,
However you got here,
This is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you."
Why 3 stars then?
The book left me feeling emotionless. It didn't grip me. It didn't make me feel.
Poetry is a form of art. A way to express all the craziness inside.
This book felt a bit flat. The words were neat and too composed.
Why book, dare to go a little crazy...
*ARC kindly received by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
February 20, 2016
In a voice brashly proud of its vulnerability, Sierra DeMulder’s absorbing new collection Today Means Amen will help readers appreciate a world that lets us claim higher ground if we have known and moved past mistakes, miscalculations, and imperfections. And that includes pretty much all of us.
Each of these poems is grounded in a recognizable reality and then tears a hole in it to reveal a larger truth: a stop at a country cemetery, visits to a grandfather living with dementia, a drunken father talking to another father about his daughter’s suicide, a boyfriend who is “an emotional robot.” DeMulder writes about children, the elderly, and past lovers who rough up and then heal our hearts.
I’m hesitant to quote the poems because I want readers to savor each line for the first time in its intended context. But there are so many good lines! OK, just one: “Sweetheart, shame has been / bound in your basement too long.”
If there is any justice in the poetry world, Today Means Amen will receive a lot of awards this year. Please read it, share it, and let me know your thoughts.
Each of these poems is grounded in a recognizable reality and then tears a hole in it to reveal a larger truth: a stop at a country cemetery, visits to a grandfather living with dementia, a drunken father talking to another father about his daughter’s suicide, a boyfriend who is “an emotional robot.” DeMulder writes about children, the elderly, and past lovers who rough up and then heal our hearts.
I’m hesitant to quote the poems because I want readers to savor each line for the first time in its intended context. But there are so many good lines! OK, just one: “Sweetheart, shame has been / bound in your basement too long.”
If there is any justice in the poetry world, Today Means Amen will receive a lot of awards this year. Please read it, share it, and let me know your thoughts.
July 31, 2016
Review to come, but I leave you with this:
"Dear you, whoever you are, however you got here,
this is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you.
This moment is your lover and you are a soldier.
Come home, baby, it's over. You don't need
to suffer anymore. Dear you, this moment
is your surprise party. You are both hiding
in the dark and walking through the door.
This moment is a hallelujah. This moment
is your permission slip to finally open that love
letter you've been hiding from yourself,
the one you wrote when you were little
when you still danced like a sparkler at dusk."
January 15, 2016
I'm having difficulty using words as well as Sierra DeMulder does. Suffice it to say that this is beautiful, raw stuff. More thoughts to come when I give up on trying to do this book justice ;)
April 3, 2019
I first heard of Sierra DeMulder on Youtube, she was a known Spoken Word artist, I have watched few of her performances and was immediately drawn to her craft. Today Means Amen is a proof that DeMulder’s talent deserves every spotlight. I suggest that you watch her performances first before immersing yourself with the written words, I promise you would appreciate her more. Today Means Amen evokes positivity amidst the chaos of our daily lives. It is the affirmation you needed to hear at the end of a cruel day. It was a beacon of light, but ultimately it was the amalgamation of every person’s trials and triumphs, of believing in a higher being and knowing one’s worth.
Here's a poem I like:
“Dear you, whoever you are, however you got here,
this is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you.
This moment is your lover and you are a soldier.
Come home, baby, it’s over. You don’t need
to suffer anymore. Dear you, this momentis your surprise party. You are both hiding
in the dark and walking through the door.
This moment is a hallelujah. This moment
is your permission slip to finally open that love
letter you’ve been hiding from yourself,
the one you wrote when you were little
when you still danced like a sparkler at dusk.”
Here's a poem I like:
“Dear you, whoever you are, however you got here,
this is exactly where you are supposed to be.
This moment has waited its whole life for you.
This moment is your lover and you are a soldier.
Come home, baby, it’s over. You don’t need
to suffer anymore. Dear you, this momentis your surprise party. You are both hiding
in the dark and walking through the door.
This moment is a hallelujah. This moment
is your permission slip to finally open that love
letter you’ve been hiding from yourself,
the one you wrote when you were little
when you still danced like a sparkler at dusk.”
June 11, 2017
This was beautiful, as Sierra's writing always is. She remains my favorite poet besides Blythe Baird. Her words have gotten me through so many tough times and made me feel so many emotions. She was actually the one who got me into poetry in the first place and made me fall in love with words all over again in a new way. This was no different. I loved these poems by her. They were raw and beautiful and they made me cry. They also made me want to fall in love.
My favorites were perhaps "Remember," "Release It," And "Facts Written From An Airplane." But I really loved all of them so much.
I'm looking forward to the future books that Sierra DeMulder publishes and performs in the future. Thank you for all of the beautiful words you have shared with us so far.
My favorites were perhaps "Remember," "Release It," And "Facts Written From An Airplane." But I really loved all of them so much.
I'm looking forward to the future books that Sierra DeMulder publishes and performs in the future. Thank you for all of the beautiful words you have shared with us so far.
December 23, 2018
So many of these poems seemed to speak personally to me, which is the really amazing thing about poetry and emotions.
March 9, 2019
I’m sorry, but whenever I opened this book I felt sleepy. Not my type of poetry, thought it was kinda messy.
May 26, 2020
Well, I liked this book. Simple poems, but she knows what to say and how to complete it. Still it could be better...
November 28, 2016
Leave your shame. It will not follow you home.
i don't believe in god but if i did i would thank him for placing a talent like sierra demulder on this earth. this is the third poetry collection of hers that i read and i hope to read a thousand more. (no pressure, though, miss demulder!)
i can't really describe these poems with just a few adjectives. i mean, this collection is life-affirming, clever, hard-hitting, harrowing, romantic, soothing and things like that but overall it is OVERFLOWING with emotion.
the diversity of the topics she writes about is as wide as the spectrum of emotion itself. it's that good and all-compassing. the cruelty of language is in full display here. so is its ability to soothe you, to calm you down.
i am fascinated by language as of late and this perfectly captured the confusion of it, the strain it causes: I try to explain to her how two words can look different but sound the same. I wonder if she, too, feels as though she is suffocating with a stranger's hand pushing a brand new shiny tongue into her throat.
i hope people see what i see and let this win the goodreads choice award for best poetry. it's well-deserved.
i don't believe in god but if i did i would thank him for placing a talent like sierra demulder on this earth. this is the third poetry collection of hers that i read and i hope to read a thousand more. (no pressure, though, miss demulder!)
i can't really describe these poems with just a few adjectives. i mean, this collection is life-affirming, clever, hard-hitting, harrowing, romantic, soothing and things like that but overall it is OVERFLOWING with emotion.
the diversity of the topics she writes about is as wide as the spectrum of emotion itself. it's that good and all-compassing. the cruelty of language is in full display here. so is its ability to soothe you, to calm you down.
i am fascinated by language as of late and this perfectly captured the confusion of it, the strain it causes: I try to explain to her how two words can look different but sound the same. I wonder if she, too, feels as though she is suffocating with a stranger's hand pushing a brand new shiny tongue into her throat.
i hope people see what i see and let this win the goodreads choice award for best poetry. it's well-deserved.
March 11, 2017
This is my "Book of the Year" for 2016. I found Ms. DeMulder's poetry because this book was a Goodreads finalist in the best poetry category for the year. I have not read much poetry in my life, but this collection had a very big impact on me, as has her other four collections. She is inventive and daring, to say the least. Look for 'Today Means Amen' on You Tube. I love that poem.
October 10, 2017
I can’t write a review right now as there is a dust storm where I live and my eyes are irritated.
September 6, 2022
Sierra is clearly one of those people predestined to be a poet, who cannot help producing poetry as a way of life. Anything and everything, no matter how ordinary, can be the topic of a poem, as can be seen from titles such as “Ode To My Bottom Lip,” “Tonight in Yoga,” “After Googling Affirmations For Abuse Survivors,” and “Existential Crisis Brought Forth By Complaining About My Boyfriend Over A Basket of Cheese Curds.” Yes, there’s a lot of breakup poems in here, but who can’t relate to heart break? The sheer volume of poems from her represents the phrase “don’t make it perfect, make it now,” which is honestly inspiring. The final section contains some heavy hitting, straight talking, life affirming messages to the reader. The title poem, “Today Means Amen,” brought me to tears. I guess that one was a viral sensation? I wouldn’t know in my social media-less existence (other than GR of course) and I’m happy to have stumbled upon it in the library the way I did. To end, a few lines from that poem:
“Do you remember the moment you realized they were watching? When you became ashamed of how much light you were holding? When you first learned how to unlove yourself? Dear you, the word today means amen in every language. Today we made it.”
“Do you remember the moment you realized they were watching? When you became ashamed of how much light you were holding? When you first learned how to unlove yourself? Dear you, the word today means amen in every language. Today we made it.”
April 4, 2017
On the back of Today Means Amen, the friend of Sierra DeMulder finishes off her blurb by saying, "I believe this book will leave you feeling less alone." That is such the truth. Prepare yourself for a dose of reality: emotionless boyfriends, the love of your 8 year old niece, visiting cemeteries and relationships that should be over but both parties like boxers continue to stay round after round.
There is a poem called Floating that I'd have to say is my favorite. I lost my Grandfather a year ago to Alzheimers and this is the first time I found something written that summarizes how I felt when he was still here and now. (Please share this poem with anyone you know who is slowly losing someone they love to dementia)
Goodness, this collection explores love, loss and pain some thoroughly but then she ends off with poems like Today Means Amen which has lines like "Dear you, and I have always meant you, nothing would be the same if you did not exist. You whose voice is someone's favorite voice, someone's favorite face to wake up to. Nothing would be the same if you did not exist." I really enjoyed reading this and can't wait to see what else DeMulder has in store!
There is a poem called Floating that I'd have to say is my favorite. I lost my Grandfather a year ago to Alzheimers and this is the first time I found something written that summarizes how I felt when he was still here and now. (Please share this poem with anyone you know who is slowly losing someone they love to dementia)
Goodness, this collection explores love, loss and pain some thoroughly but then she ends off with poems like Today Means Amen which has lines like "Dear you, and I have always meant you, nothing would be the same if you did not exist. You whose voice is someone's favorite voice, someone's favorite face to wake up to. Nothing would be the same if you did not exist." I really enjoyed reading this and can't wait to see what else DeMulder has in store!
June 23, 2017
This took me awhile to read because I wanted to savor each poem. While I liked all of them, a few stuck out in particular.
I think that everyone, especially women, can find something to appreciate in DeMulder's work.
I mean, I don't think of myself as someone who likes poetry, but if I liked it, then maybe other people who avoided the classes about poetry in college, like me, can like it, too. I would even say that I love it.
I think that everyone, especially women, can find something to appreciate in DeMulder's work.
I mean, I don't think of myself as someone who likes poetry, but if I liked it, then maybe other people who avoided the classes about poetry in college, like me, can like it, too. I would even say that I love it.
September 5, 2021
This book. Every other poem in this book just hit me in the feels so much.
I’ll be re-reading this again and again in the future.
CWs
I’ll be re-reading this again and again in the future.
CWs
April 2, 2016
"we still stayed–holding each other,
arguing, crumpled together in
that tub not meant for two or even
someone your size. Until the candles
burned out, until we were dry."
- Sierra DeMulder, Chai & Whiskey
This is a collection of poetry that made me feel more lovable. Does that make sense?
I have this thing where I want to date someone who will lay their head on my lap as I read poetry out loud to them, and this book made that fantasy feel more real.
It's not exactly that the poems are romantic. In fact, most of them are about family, death, loss, self love, and yes, even some romance...but DeMulder's word choice was beautifully romantic. Her style feels both intentional but also natural. And that, in my opinion, is an extremely hard thing to pull off. It felt honest. And while I didn't love everything that was honest in the poems, I appreciate the sentiment.
This is a book that brings a feeling of love. A book that says "Hey, we're all pretty messed up. We all are falling apart and recovering from trauma and trying to figure out how the hell to love ourselves but we are all so so beautiful because of this." It's a book that reminds you of your own loveliness without having to to tell you you're lovely - it's just soaking every word.
Favorite poems:
My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch
Missouri
Exodus 33:20
This, Too, Is Not for You
Made for Blood
Today Means Amen
The Day of the Last Fire
Chai & Whiskey
arguing, crumpled together in
that tub not meant for two or even
someone your size. Until the candles
burned out, until we were dry."
- Sierra DeMulder, Chai & Whiskey
This is a collection of poetry that made me feel more lovable. Does that make sense?
I have this thing where I want to date someone who will lay their head on my lap as I read poetry out loud to them, and this book made that fantasy feel more real.
It's not exactly that the poems are romantic. In fact, most of them are about family, death, loss, self love, and yes, even some romance...but DeMulder's word choice was beautifully romantic. Her style feels both intentional but also natural. And that, in my opinion, is an extremely hard thing to pull off. It felt honest. And while I didn't love everything that was honest in the poems, I appreciate the sentiment.
This is a book that brings a feeling of love. A book that says "Hey, we're all pretty messed up. We all are falling apart and recovering from trauma and trying to figure out how the hell to love ourselves but we are all so so beautiful because of this." It's a book that reminds you of your own loveliness without having to to tell you you're lovely - it's just soaking every word.
Favorite poems:
My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch
Missouri
Exodus 33:20
This, Too, Is Not for You
Made for Blood
Today Means Amen
The Day of the Last Fire
Chai & Whiskey
June 30, 2021
Where do one even begin to attempt talk about a book in which the writer has been able to so masterfully capture love, loss, pain, and more in a collection of poems that all successfully touch both the soul and heart of the reader? DeMulder's words are able to convey so much, and as a result I feel like my own words won't be able to do sufficient justice giving this beautiful work the written praise that I feel it deserves.
However, I do feel confident enough to type this - this is a work that I will definitely be returning to again and again and again.
However, I do feel confident enough to type this - this is a work that I will definitely be returning to again and again and again.
February 15, 2016
I have read 2 of Sierra DeMulder's books and am familiar with her work. I went in to this with high hopes. I wanted to love it, I really really did but that wasn't the case. With the exception of a few I felt like I was just reading the same poem over and over. They all blended into one repetitive piece and I got bored very quick.
Most of these pieces work better read out loud in front of a mic then they do printed on paper.
Most of these pieces work better read out loud in front of a mic then they do printed on paper.
March 26, 2016
I wish I knew how to put into words how this book made me feel. I've struggled to write a review for Sierra Demulder's collection of poems for awhile now because of just that.... but if you love poetry that makes you feel and think and fall out of and in love all over again, "Today Means Amen'" will not disappoint.
January 3, 2017
i... underlined sentences and starred whole pages and felt things I didn't want to and read some honest real raw words that made me gasp and cry. all I can say about this book is /wow/. (thanks to taylor for getting this title tattooed on her skin, thus compelling me to read these poems.)
December 15, 2016
There are a few poems towards the end of this collection that have moved onto my "favorite poems" list. Would really love to see Sierra perform them live. Writers Week hopeful!
April 30, 2017
i feel like if i heard the poems instead of reading them, i would have liked this a whole lot more
April 23, 2017
In this book, Sierra DeMulder tackles love, the loss of love, mental health, among many other issues, in a beautiful way. I was in awe with her words, the imagery, the everything that makes you lift up and up and away into a world of poetry. If you listen to some of the poems that she's already performed on YouTube as you read, I think it adds such a wonderful dimension. Some of my favorite pieces were: At the End of the Day, I Am an Animal ("I loved the idea of you for so long, I forgot you had skin."), Existential Crisis Brought Forth by Complaining about my Boyfriend over a Basket of Cheese Curds ("I, on the other hand, feel emotions in Technicolor. I emote not unlike a blender on high with no lid and lots and lots of ice."), Gardener's Daughter ("I turn my palms upwards as if donating blood and let her empty the contents of the day on me."), Your Love Finds Its Way Back ("I sculpted your body from the dust on the doorknob. I've hoarded your name in my mouth for months. My throat is a beehive pitched in the river. Look! Look how long this love can hold its breath."), The Living Room Needs a New Coat of Paint because I love unique formatting in poetry ("My love: you cannot fix what wants to be broken."), Uninhabitable ("What is it about this family that draws us back to the uninhabitable? That compels us to make a bed where there isn't one?"), and Without ("One day, long after you left, I finally realized you were actually gone. The suddenness. The spark. Learning a new word for without.").
With Sierra DeMulder's book, I think I've learned not to inch away from taking space and telling my whole truth, no matter how you disguise it with pretty or honest words.
Trigger warnings for: abuse, eating disorders, depression, death, and suicide.
With Sierra DeMulder's book, I think I've learned not to inch away from taking space and telling my whole truth, no matter how you disguise it with pretty or honest words.
Trigger warnings for: abuse, eating disorders, depression, death, and suicide.
September 21, 2021
I liked the style of poetry, which felt like a blend of descriptive imagery and more contemporary rhythms. My "favorite" poems/the ones I thought were the best, were the ones dealing with grief and family. There were also quite a few poems about the breakup of romantic relationships that didn't connect with me as much, but I think that's down to personal experience and my poetry interests rather than a lack of skill on the part of the author.
There were a couple places where I feel like the poet was veering a little into murky territory in terms of the perspectives she was writing? like the poem that focused on Coretta Scott King. It was a well-written piece and I can't speak to the representation myself, but I just wanted to mention it, and I was surprised a white writer would take on that subject (though it was a very brief poem, and she did cover a couple other historical figures as well).
CW: Grief, dementia, cancer, abuse, eating disorder, miscarriage, loss of child, depression, suicidal ideation, references to: racism, suicide, police brutality, assassination
There were a couple places where I feel like the poet was veering a little into murky territory in terms of the perspectives she was writing? like the poem that focused on Coretta Scott King. It was a well-written piece and I can't speak to the representation myself, but I just wanted to mention it, and I was surprised a white writer would take on that subject (though it was a very brief poem, and she did cover a couple other historical figures as well).
CW: Grief, dementia, cancer, abuse, eating disorder, miscarriage, loss of child, depression, suicidal ideation, references to: racism, suicide, police brutality, assassination
September 9, 2017
I was enjoying this book, and then I got to the last part and suddenly I was broken into little tiny pieces and being put back together at the same time. I stopped feeling alone.
There are numerous beautiful poems in this book. A few of my favourites are:
"My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch"
"For My Niece Lucia, Age 8"
"In the Train Station in Munich"
"Remember"
"Gardener's Daughter"
"Thirteen Stanzas for Sarah Winchester Whom I Think I Understand"
The very best of them is the title piece. It's a piece that I will read over and over again. It's a piece that is remarkable and if it's an indication of what she will do next, I'll be waiting patiently for her next book. While I keep reading this one over and over.
There are numerous beautiful poems in this book. A few of my favourites are:
"My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch"
"For My Niece Lucia, Age 8"
"In the Train Station in Munich"
"Remember"
"Gardener's Daughter"
"Thirteen Stanzas for Sarah Winchester Whom I Think I Understand"
The very best of them is the title piece. It's a piece that I will read over and over again. It's a piece that is remarkable and if it's an indication of what she will do next, I'll be waiting patiently for her next book. While I keep reading this one over and over.
January 22, 2018
For a few years now, I have had a picture that I framed hanging in my house that reads "You Whose Voice is Someone's Favorite Voice, Nothing Would be the Same if You Did Not Exists". These words have been really meaningful to me and it wasn't until recently that I found out that they came from the titular poem of this book.
I had the very lucky, rare opportunity to not only see Sierra perform but also to sit in a workshop with her and learn from her. She was kind, funny, and inspiring. Much like her poetry. Today Means Amen is full of beautiful poems about life, love, loss, and coming home.
Read it. :)
I had the very lucky, rare opportunity to not only see Sierra perform but also to sit in a workshop with her and learn from her. She was kind, funny, and inspiring. Much like her poetry. Today Means Amen is full of beautiful poems about life, love, loss, and coming home.
Read it. :)
August 31, 2019
I really, really loved this. I enjoyed it the whole way through, and I thought almost all of it was very good. Often, I feel a poetry collection will contain a couple of stand-outs, and then an assortment that are only alright. But I liked basically everything here. I think my favorite was Mantra to Overcome Depression.
Forget
this poem. It doesn't matter.
There is no wrong way
to remember the grace of your
own body; no choice
that can unmake itself.
There is only now, here,
look: you are already
forgiven
April 28, 2021
This collection burrowed inside me in ways that I didn't expect and wasn't prepared for. What a vulnerable, beautiful book. I look forward to reading more of DeMulder's work.
Some of my favorite pieces from the collection were:
-"My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch"
-"The Origin of the Heart as an Indicator of Love"
-"Progress Report" and "Remember"
-"God Bless Your Fingers"
-"Thirteen Stanzas for Sarah Winchester Whom I Think I Understand"
-"The Origin of the Bathrobe"
Some of my favorite pieces from the collection were:
-"My Lover Found Me Weeping on the Couch"
-"The Origin of the Heart as an Indicator of Love"
-"Progress Report" and "Remember"
-"God Bless Your Fingers"
-"Thirteen Stanzas for Sarah Winchester Whom I Think I Understand"
-"The Origin of the Bathrobe"
February 28, 2022
I’ve never been into poetry, but I thought I’d give it a try because I love Sierra Demulder. I am blown away. The way she uses words to articulate her thoughts is beyond astounding and every poem was so moving in its own way. Crying in the club that I’ll never be able to use language as beautifully as she can.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews