Some days, it's hard to love yourself. Edmonton poet laureate Nisha Patel puts that feeling in verse

It's National Poetry Month, and for the fifth edition of Poetic License, we decided to celebrate short poems from poets across Canada. In these illustrated videos, you'll hear from emerging talent, award-winning poets and poets laureate, plus the three Canadians on the Griffin Poetry Prize shortlist — the world's largest international prize for a first-edition single collection of poetry written in or translated into English.

First up is Edmonton's poet laureate Nisha Patel with a piece called Some days. Some days, self-love can be complicated — but as she expresses in this piece, it is essential to learn to accept all sides of ourselves. Patel is an award-winning Indo-Canadian poet whose debut collection Coconut (published by NeWest Press) is available now at Glass Bookshop. And for more talented young artists, check out her recently started micro-press partnership, Moon Jelly House, which gives a platform to BIPOC poets by publishing short-run chapbooks.

Listen to Nisha Patel perform Some days in the video above and read the poem below.

Some days

by Nisha Patel

-----

some days I forgive myself for loving the things men love:

all-in-one shampoo; Formula 1 race cars; Fight Club 

the first time my parents let me stay up late was for the Friends finale, which I loved 

some days I love the things I have loved:

ninth grade; the Tunisian boy who taught me to rollerblade; 50 cent samosas on the corner 

when the Ativan wears thin I become a fish suffused in the waters of my memory  
I dream of a mirage where the teenagers put the eggs
back before they meet the walls of my house, where I love

some days I let go of having wanted love:

straightening my hair; reading The Economist; wanting to taste pepperoni on pizza

girls like me, we are what we eat: I'm a chicken, not a love-letter. this, I love, too.

-----

See more from Poetic License.