First poem of 2019: what the body is

My body is the party of the year 

and none of you are invited. 

I am Gatsby waiting on the shore, 

for the love of my life,

which is myself.

I put up streamers,

balloons.

There is more champagne than you have ever seen 

and I am getting drunk in the bathtub. 

Quote the body is not an apology unquote. 

But the body is also not a whisper, an excuse, a “maybe one day”.

My body is a scream into the dark,

a crowded restaurant,

a hill to die on. 

It is a museum piece worth getting dirty.

This is not a revelation or a brave admission. 

It is a prayer and a choice and an answer 

for everyone that who looks into a darkened mirror and wishes.

 

 

 

* “The Body is Not an Apology” is a book by Sonya Renee Taylor