BODY IMAGE Poem: all this shit- and beautiful, too, by Sophia Louise

taking off my clothes feels like peeling off a sweaty plastic glove
you really have to tug to get it away from fat fingers
and something always tears away as you do.
the silicone sticks to the skin, wet,
white and blue, the colors of a
classic all-american girl.

once in the mall
i opened the changing room door
only to find it occupied. i was horrified,
and i couldn’t look away and slam it shut fast enough.
inside, a gangly girl was stuck in a dress made of plastic-wrap-y silk-
the little black dress was a little bit too small, and she struggled against it,
and it reminded me of a butterfly fighting out of its tiny cocoon too soon.
don’t overthink why that’s what stuck with me, instead of a reminder
of good manners, to always knock on doors. it’s just,
sometimes i feel like a small, stunted caterpillar
who’s too impatient to ever fly.

sometimes
if i don’t look
in a mirror for long enough,
i forget what i look like. afterwards,
this leads to an hour or more of staring deeply
into every single pore on my nose, and wondering if
my voice is deeper in my head. sometimes, before i shower,
i smile at myself, because sometime in history, marilyn monroe
hated herself more than i hate me, and fuck her anyway because
i’m beautiful too, y’know?

Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film. View all posts by poetryfest