Fat Opera Singer
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It's a thing that you see as a little girl watching Bugs Bunny
The woman who comes out to sing in the end of the opera cartoon is big and fat
And then you grow up and hear that it's "not over til the fat lady sings"
And you learn that women in opera are fat
But then you get older
And your belly gets rounder and your breasts get heavier
You notice that your thighs touch when you walk
And the other girls don't look like that
And you open your mouth to sing the fun songs from the radio
But they tell you
"That doesn't sound like it's supposed to"
"Why does your voice sound like that?"
"Are you trying to be an opera singer?"
Well.
No.
You're a kid with fat strapped to your bones and your mind and your psyche
And when the other kids tell you that it doesn't sound right when you sing,
It's confusing.
And then you're even older
The fat is just part of who you are now.
You're the "fat friend"
The one the cute boys don't notice, the one who can't get a decent date, the one who has to make jokes about being fat
before someone else can point it out in a way that isn't funny.
And all your friends sing
And it really is opera music now.
And you're great at it. You love it. It consumes you when you open your throat
and let it out into the world.
but
Now there are concerns like "getting cast" and "fitting roles"
and that fat that is strapped to your personality is no longer funny.
Because you NEED to be a part of this world like breathing,
but
There are so many girls out there who are
thinner
prettier
And it doesn't matter if you sing better than all of them
because you've done the research
and you need to get thin.
The fat opera singer has a time and place on the stage.
But none of the stagelights she appears under are the ones you want to stand in.
Comments
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seranilam
This is beautiful- it touched me.
I love your metaphor with the "fat opera singer" - it makes your whole purpose seem more vivid and easy to understand.
Recently I was looking up #YOWO submissions for inspiration, and at the moment, this one is my favorite.
Great job!
seranilam
My favorite part of this poem was the comparison of yourself to the fat opera singer.