A Few Choice Words for Body Shamers

My body was made beautiful by the combination of my genes

Not by how good they make my butt look

And if they give me a muffin top, it’s probably because I thought

It would be okay to indulge and  

Instead of worrying so much about what others wanted in me

I could worry about what I wanted in me which

At the time

Happened to be a muffin

 

On a scale of 1 to happy I was relatively content

On a scale of 1 to 10 I was one hundred and thirty two

On a scale of 1 to crappy what you did was

Pretty goddamn shitty

You turned my thoughts away from

Inner beauty and body positive and instead,

Led a little girl from her toys to a mirror and

Compared her to a whale

You led a little girl away from her home to the tree and

Handed her a noose

The ropes intertwined with words of motivation

“Sore today, strong tomorrow”

“Sweat is just your fat crying”

“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”

“Skip dinner wake up thinner”

 

She wanted to be a chef, or a baker but now

She can’t even look at anything that resembled something edible

Without wanting to die

Because she doesn’t deserve to feel good about herself

She didn’t deserve to consume even

A sliver of joy

She didn’t deserve it at all

I didn’t deserve it at all

 

My worth is not measured by the inches around my waist

It does not expand with the gap between my thighs

My worth was not defined by my own definition of beauty

Because you decided I was looking in the wrong dictionary

 

You didn’t like me when I was happy

So you made it your personal business

To weigh me down and soon enough

I needed someone to keep me anchored so I didn’t just float away

So I stayed

 

So I stayed and

It was the worst decision I could have made because

From there it only got worse

And worse and worse

Until even the weight of the world on my shoulders was’t

Enough to keep me grounded

I lost my footing and slipped and everything came tumbling down

And only added to the number on the scale

So I pushed harder and harder and harder

Until even you couldn’t recognize me

The one who started it all

So please

 

The next time you think it would be a good idea to state your

“Opinion”

Even if it’s a joke

Even if she

Knows that you are only teasing

Even if you didn’t think she would never take it that far

 

Take a moment

And keep that opinion deep in your throat before she shoves her fingers down her own because

Once you plant the seed it will only keep growing

And no matter how many times you pluck it from the ground

The roots will remain and blossom into a brand new tree with

The noose already slung across a branch.

This poem is about: 
Me

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