look me over with a precise eye and identify
the most imperfect parts of me,
outline the parts of me which grow beyond the recommended template
where will you begin?
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alas i am covered in skin, my skin is mapped with scars, my scars are stories
and old mosquito bites, bumps and imperfections are human
in these places i am told i should shave, exfoliate and lotion.
there are many more products than i will use in my lifetime to whiten, straighten, reduce and erase me
to the very pores.
God help me, genetic lottery bless me, freeze me in my twenties lest
i die in the eyes of men.
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i am told to learn the intricacies of make up
before it is too late, that age is a grenade which will destroy me.
my eyes seek all reflective surfaces to make sure i look okay or to make sure
i am real,
not an image who has the luxury of good lighting or Photoshop clone tools
when i roam the streets and have nice men whistle at me and tell me to smile
but men don’t tell other men to smile.
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they tell little girls their body is a balloon made to be stretched thin
we are meant to be hollow.
it is strategic to carve out and expel the organs we are discouraged from using
they say the stomach is a warzone and hunger is only in the brain, the mouth is a cannon better screwed shut
they say, ‘you’ll never get skinny if you keep on eating’, for self-discipline is a prominent thigh gap and we will not feel empty if we feast on
whistles and smiles. they are enough to sustain
the bones i have broken to fit into the mold lined softly with the blood of previous generations
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help me, doctor, you promised
scalpel kisses on my skin and a body i will not learn to hate.
dissect me, please make me a silicon product of the times and the trends,
sculpt my plump lips razor cheekbones bright eyes sharp nose legs for miles
because each month, magazine covers teach me how to lose 10 pounds
and my self-esteem.
they say stretch marks are tiger stripes
while selling ad space for a cream to erase them!
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evidently, women do not need to roar as long as we look pretty
women need to be told we are beautiful in order to feel worthy
of a place on this damned Earth.
they never say all men deserve to feel beautiful.
i am no heroine, merely a love interest.
they have destroyed me, hollowed me out! it’s so easy
to sculpt me.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
