#feministasfuck: #15, #thisbody, #comfort
by Ani King
#15
Do not go gentle into that fucking boardroom
In your good-girl skirt
And your yes-sir shoes
And your I’m-sorry shirt
as if you’ve done something wrong
in being right.
Ingenuity is not accident
There is no shame in your bright, sharp mind
Let others cut themselves on the edge of your ideas
While they clamor to steal them
hide them in their pockets
as if you’ve done something wrong
in being right.
#thisbody
Others might describe her as pale and freckled
I say she is the night sky in reverse
She is a holy map of secret constellations
I follow them from limb to limb
to mouth
Others might say that she has red hair
I say she is a woman burning
She is a fire in the dark
I follow her light to tangled
sheets
She sees herself as fat and plain
I say she is an abundant feast
My mouth and hands are always full
My eyes brim and spill her out
so that her beauty sloshes everywhere
#comfort
i say
i have been held down
by
my hair
by
my arms
legs
spirit
i say please
until
tile
until
concrete
dirt
water
cools my flesh
and still
you say
my suffering
is women’s suffering
my suffering
is an open mouth
a red gash
a bloody heart
like most women’s things
you say
***
Ani King is a Michigan author, as well as Editor in Chief of Syntax & Salt: Stories. She can also be found at http://thebittenlip.com/?page_id=61
*Cover art courtesy of Toby Penney*
Damn, that’s some powerful stuff, loved it.
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Thank you!
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This is the best poetry I’ve come across in, like, YEARS.
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Thank you so so so much!
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These are terrific poems, Ani!
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Thank you so much!
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Reblogged this on E.N. Loizis and commented:
I cannot stress enough how much I love Ani King’s writing. Check out her poems at https://sicklitmagazine.com/2016/03/22/3762/ and while you’re at it, read all of her other stories as well.
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