poem: alana hayes
Demand Everything
Yes, Eve! Chase!
Show the world what a bright mind
You have living in that head full of thick, dark waves.
Teach them
how women’s eyes don’t only sparkle to attract men.
They sparkle because they are filled with the burning desire
to KNOW
to HAVE
to BE.
BE, Eve!
BE EVERYTHING! HAVE
EVERYTHING!
Demand a seat at the table where thought is taught.
Open your mouth WIDE and devour EVERYTHING!
All the juicy sweet treats they set out there.
When they tell you to stay still
and keep quiet,
get up on that table and start tap dancing. Sway a bit.
Put your booty into it!
Sing at the top of your lungs about how
you’re hips don’t lie!
Remind them god is a woman too!
And she likes to be SEEN
and be HEARD
and be RECOGNIZED
for all she does.
When they try to shame you
for every bite you take
tell them your goal
is not to be as thin as a wisp of smoke.
That you are not whisper-throated.
That you are LOUD and VIBRANT
and you eat to build a body that accurately represents the soul inside.
Your body should be as LOUD, as BOLD,
as a burning fire.
It should never disappear in a room,
it should always DAZZLE.
It should be so bright that it cancels out all the light of the midnight stars!
Tell them you EAT because you DESIRE
to be as BIG, as POWERFUL, as the SUN.
That you are a mountain peaked by rays of light at sunrise.
Tell them there's a halo about you.
That you glow brighter with every bite you take.
Demand EVERYTHING, Eve!
And when they won’t reciprocate for all you’ve given,
chase it
and SCREAM!
SCREAM a warcry worthy of womanhood!
One bathed in blood
and all the wailing, screaming rage of new, fresh life.
And when they shame you for staking your claim,
taking up the whole room,
and using all of it’s air (the same way they like to),
damn them!
Kick them out of your garden,
the same way god did with hers.
Tell them disrespect and violation
are not allowed in such sacred places.
And, when they start telling stories,
saying it was all your fault (“you fucking cunt”),
just flip your hair and keep walking.
Because, GIRL, you are a garden,
you gave them everything,
and, they, should have treated you better.
about the writer: alana hayes
you can learn more about alana hayes here.
