To the Girl Who Cried in the Department Store Because She Went Up a Size~ By Krysten Lipp

I do not know your name 
but I know how you are feeling 
between the wall of skinny jeans
and skinnier models 
the world will stop if you gain a pound 
slashing meals 
like you were warrior 
and food is the enemy 

I remained silent as I watched 
a girl about twelve crying openly 
because she went up a size 
a sales woman trying to calm her 
her mother looking at her 
like she turned into a monster 
a product of this society

I have been down that path 
it is darker than any fairy tale 
I know that you are not joking when you say
you are not going to eat today 
I felt the pain of hunger 
in order to fit in 
jeans will not make your happy 
so worried about the number of the scale 
that I missed out of life 
I am not saying that I am perfect 
I still have bad days 
when the only thing I want to do is 
rip my guts out 
the good days are out weighting the bad 

I should have gone over to tell you 
your worth is not in correlation 
to the size of your hips 

but I did not 
I was still fighting 
the war within me 
think of this as
a declaration 
we are sisters 
in a world 
ready to cut us in half 
I am telling you 
it is oaky 

you are beautiful 
you are powerful 
you are smart 
you are good 
you are perfect 


Author Bio:
Krysten Lipp is a recent graduate from a small university in Ohio. She holds a dual BA degree in Creative Writing and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. It was during undergrad when she first started writing poetry and has not stopped since. She hopes in earn her MFA in Creative Writing sometime in the future, but right now she is content living with her parents while she searches for a job that will not crush her soul. She writes about mental health, feminism, grief, searching for peace, letting go, and any other topic that society is hesitant to speak about. She still has not mastered the art of letting go but she is searching for peace everyday.