Creative | Posted by Tesneem A on 05/27/2011

No Body Is Perfect

Colour me flawless, colour me pretty,

Isn’t it enough that I’m smart, caring and witty?

I have my scars and I have my scratches,

I even have my fair share of bulges,

I wish that the skeletons would stay in their closets,

And that those cans of worms would remain closed,

But I can’t deny that I’ve had my woes,

For perfection for me is a far away dream,

Unattainable and ever elusively seen,

I know that life goes on, but I still despair,

No matter how much it looks like I don’t care,

But I wish it wasn’t so hard for me to let go,

It’s time to be resilient and live again, to be emancipated and elated,

Because if it’s true that the sky is the limit and …

More >

Creative | Posted by Shvaugn on 05/6/2011

Red Sunflower Desire

I can remember

the first time I split

this earth open,

locked within the blooming

garden of sunflowers that

formed the upstairs bathroom.

I told you first

almost begging, asking about

how I should tell our parents.

You dragged me downstairs

and pushed me forward

spilling forth with the news

as we all sat there awkwardly,

my small frame I was already beginning

to hate

buried beneath the blue folds

of my bathrobe,

underwear pressing tightly to my skin

as if to brand me

with red secrets of shame that

I would carry through out

the years.

I checked off day one immediately

beginning a regular cycle

of forgetfulness and inconvenience for

I can no longer count

between the lines in my memories,

a stack of pads sitting

on the …

More >

Creative | Posted by Melanie Z on 04/8/2011

My Body Is

My body is not an object.

It is not another’s to sculpt or scrutinize.

It is not the canvas on which you paint your expectations and standards.

It is not your playground.

My body is not your project.

It is not where you decide.

It can’t be told what to wear, how to change, when to be available.

Its boundaries are not determined by the others.

My body is my home.

It is where I write my story.

It is where and how and why I reject your critiques and limitations.

It is rebellion in itself.

My body is a revolution.

It is the personification of my soul.

It is the vehicle through which I dance, riot, love, explore.

It is my choice.

It is my reclamation.

It is ever …

More >

Pop-Culture | Posted by Josie T on 02/12/2011

Saturday Vids: Katie Makkai “Pretty”

I came across this video while researching performance poetry for a competition I’m involved in at school, and I was floored by how truthful and beautifully written and performed it is.

More >

Creative | Posted by Elise F on 12/10/2010

Phantasm

what do i dream of, while i’m lying alone in my bed,
swallowed by the darkness,
comforted only by the branches whispering into my window

i can’t fall asleep.
i see the faces, of all the girls
who have slipped through the barrier of our planet

see them crying, see them screaming
see them gasping and thrashing
i see them so well,
it is almost as if the images are being projected onto the dark ceiling
and i can’t fall asleep.

the feeling suffocates me, grabs me
its strong fingers tearing at my skin,
letting the darkness get to me.

my ears buzz, my throat starts closing
and i squeeze my eyes as tight as i can
knowing if i let tears stream down my flushed face,
it’s a sign …

More >

Creative | Posted by Emily B on 11/24/2010

Excerpt from a Fairytale

Girls should have exoskeletons, he told her.

Their ribs could be can openers.
My parents never touched each other enough, she said.

He traced her stomach like a coloring book, stopping

And starting to a thousand imaginary traffic lights.

“Happiness is a cliché,” he told her.

“I want to feel in black and white,” she said.

She wanted her heart to print receipts.
Their menus rest on the table like slain birds.

She garnished her soul like it was a thing to be consumed.

Every human being is waiting, she said,

At the bus stop of someone else’s

soul. wanting to be taken to Paradise.
So stop waiting, he said.

He imagined her soul bobbing away, like a balloon.

She wanted to kill him and press him into the

dictionary …

More >

Creative | Posted by Emily B on 11/19/2010

Faster Tonight

Girls always believe in

things told in whispers. And the

circuits connecting tangential fields of

stars and fingertips holed

in alphabets slip across rained in minds in a circumcision

of pleasure.
I’ve invented you, carved you out of traffic lights

to become beautiful–what kills me is the way birds always

fly south, down, and the way their beaks preclude

the possibility of kissing.

I’ve invented the colors underneath your clothes and

the things you could say under street lamps, erased a thousand illuminated mosquitos

But this isn’t a drawing class and the symmetry of sidewalks

is sketched to be beautiful only to insects.

Let’s say the stars are in your eyes, because

beauty is always imagined, and the lights are too

dim by the mattress anyway. Let’s say the moon …

More >

Creative | Posted by Hannah S on 10/22/2010

Be Yourself

I can see your accusing eyes

I can hear your insults behind my back

Don’t you know the world is telling you lies?

They’re telling you that I’m fat

They’re telling you that you’re not good enough

They’re telling you to wear your hair long

That to be sexy you need to own a thong

That you’ll hear a way to find love in this song

That if you buy this your troubles will be gone

And it’s all lies

Look into my eyes and tell me what you really feel

Deep inside, they ate away at you

Played their games with you

Now they’re done with you

Oh but they came back for you

And you don’t know what to do

They tell you to eat this pill

Then …

More >