“I”
By Tye King
Literary Girl
by Clara Popp
Literary girl cowers in the corner,
from the flies that carve their way through
the remnants of last night’s
too small dinner.
Literary girl, what do you have to be afraid of?
Backbreaking ennui, and
a winding path of bad decisions,
and a man who is a boy,
or a boy who is a man.
Literary girl sips from dirty glasses,
writes letters to her lovers about
the finer points of communism,
can’t stop the sense of dread that tingles
when she sees a fat lady cross the street.
Literary girl, whose biggest fear is a body built like mine,
who tells the world to go vegan,
while she rips into steak,
who says it’s because she wants to save the planet,
but really,
she’ll kill herself,
if she sees another thick thigh in lace.
Literary girl, can’t you see,
you can be sad and seductive,
with a belly that swells
like it made room to feast,
you can even hate the world
poetically,
without hating
only everyone that looks like me.
By Camille
Reflections
A dreary look was found in a mirror
Longing to find a purpose
And with life on pause
It’s slipped away with only wonder remaining
Wonder, will any of it be the same
Or was the loss too detrimental
Forever derailed from what once was
Will i find the tracks
To my former past
I’m waiting for a different path to appear
But who waits for destiny
When time is oh so very limited
Disappearing with each passing day
And me along with it
I can’t stand to look at a life like this no more
It’s time to find a reflection worth looking for
I AM FAT
Whenever I say I am fat my boyfriend tells me no you’re not.
And I look at him and say,
but I am, I am fat.
And I think he says No you’re not
because fat is such a dirty word
I use fat because it is the right word
it is factual
it is real
I am fat
I think what should worry him more
than my saying I am fat
is what I fear because I am fat:
Fat woman fears:
Eating in public
Sitting on a rickety chair
Walking the street with her skinny boyfriend
Kissing her skinny boyfriend in public
Being crammed inside a subway
or bus
or shopping centre
or in any public space
where she takes up too much room
Shopping for clothes
Buying junk food
Fat woman fears how others define fat
These terms-the clinical, the casual, the slang, the insulting—are all designed to remind us that our bodies are not normal. [. . .] It’s a hell of a thing to have our bodies so ruthlessly, publicly dissected, defined, and denigrated”
