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.