Author’s Note

There’s a particular kind of confidence that comes from realizing your haters are not actually bringing anything new to the table.

I Hate Me Better is me taking that idea to its most ridiculous conclusion. If someone wants to hate me, they’re going to have to compete with the person who has been doing it the longest: me.

I’ve spent years turning self-doubt into jokes, anger into poems, and internal criticism into something I can actually put on a page. So when somebody else shows up with their little collection of insults, my first thought isn’t necessarily how dare you?

It’s more like—

That’s it?

If you’re going to hate me, at least bring your A-game.

Because I’ve been practicing.

— Rowan Evans

I Hate Me Better
Poetry by Rowan Evans

If you’re gonna hate me,
you got to hate me better—
every year since I was 16,
I’ve written myself
a fuck you letter.

That’s twenty years—

I’ve been telling myself,
to go and fuck myself.
It’s not unusual for me to say it.

Fuck you, Rowan—
and I’m not playin’.

So if you hate me—
sign your name
and get in line.

I’ll get to you—

I’ll do it, one at a time.
I’ll walk right up, like—
what the fuck’s up, mate?
I won’t do it two-faced,
no coins flipped—so don’t trip,
this isn’t luck, bitch.

You hate me?
I don’t give a fuck.

Say it to my face—
I couldn’t give a fuck less.

I’m not untouchable…

I just hate me better.

Journey into the Hexverse

If you’re interested in more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]