I take up space

Five feet, ten inches high

And as my hips are wide.

I've always taken up space

It's a bare necessity of being human.

Space in our lungs

Space through our veins

But when I was twelve years old

I hated the space that I deigned-

The weight I carried on my lower abdomen

The baby curve of my baby face

I wanted to take up less space.

So I made my words less

I made my thoughts less

To take up less.

That was when others took my space

They took the air out of my lungs and the blood out of my veins because I wouldn't claim them.

Because I couldn't claim them. To be a good girl you can't take up space.

You can't stretch your arms wide or use hot tears to cry or muster the energy to pull yourself over the peaks of the mountains you wish to summit.

But it's easier now, to take up the space that God granted me: All lungs and veins and baby faces and belly fat, it's the space I deign, the kingdom I rein.

The space I take up.