'Jia Tolentino' By Nicholas Rombre

About

'Jia Tolentino' By Nicholas Rombre is a poem published in 3AM Magazine which caused shock and jokes on Twitter after many interpreted the poem to be about poet Nicholas Rombre's crush on author and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino. The poem was eventually deleted from 3AM magazine.

Origin

On August 4th, 2021, 3AM Magazine^[1] published 'Jia Tolentino' by poet Nicholas Rombre (shown below). Among the most notable lines in the poem are, "I want to ask Jia Tolentino to ask me to ask her to ask me to let me take, conditionally, her hand, the soft pink palm of it: a gentle push against my Wonder Bread face" and "Oh Jia I want to come back new into this eely wet slippery world with you."

Spread

The poem began trending on Twitter on August 6th, 2021, as people expressed their revulsion at what appeared to be Rombre's declaration of his crush on Tolentino. Many expressed it in parody poems taking the form of "This Is Just To Say." User @carolinemoss^[2] tweeted a parody that gained over 30 retweets and 610 likes (shown below, left). User @BGInChi^[3] also posted a "This Is Just To Say" parody, gaining over 90 likes (shown below, right).

Many users made jokes about a 2020 controversy surrounding Tolentino's parents, who were allegedly involved in human trafficking.^[4] User @GarbageApe^[5] tweeted a parody of Rombre's poem, gaining over 60 retweets and 1,200 likes (shown below, left). User ChalicoTherex^[6] did the same, gaining over 170 likes (shown below, right). The poem and its reactions were covered by Digg.^[7]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References