When I Hated My Body

The elders gathered from the cornices of the island’s arms and we had nothing to say. Even hedge funds with the power to hoover it up and offer it back like tightly packed cigarettes were silent. 

When you were a child, your eyelashes were so long.
We used to call you pilik mata.

I almost posted this on “social media”

You eat like you are being chased.

You who are living. What is your responsibility?

Illuminated light and

holding the hymnal with your boyfriend, 

I wanted the poems to breathe prettily, 

to be ecstatic and extroverted citizens. 

From Loves You. Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Gambito. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Persea Books.