my body is not an act of contrition
it’s not a performance I put on to pay penance to those who must look at me;
this is not a transaction,
my effort at some standard of beauty
for your regard
I will not apologize for your attention,
or arrange myself to make your looking at me a pleasant experience
I will not suffocate,
agree to the expense,
or bow to the impracticality of it all;
I will not mold myself to earn your recognition
my body is not an act of contrition
Heart Breathings 
Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Thank you!
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Always a joy and pleasure to read and share your posts with followers, My Dear! Hope you have a great day!! xoxox 😘💕🎁🌹
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I’ve never thought of how a woman presents her physical self to others as “an act of contrition.” It’s only by your poem’s denial of this act that I see it for what it is. Brava!
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That’s my very favorite thing about reading, especially poetry! I love that it can make you see something from a place that maybe you hadn’t before. So I appreciate that my poem did that for you!
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This ability to see the world from a different perpsective is my favorite thing about reading as well!
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respect
one must elect
to give what one wants in return
in theory
at least
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Agreed. However, what a person looks like has no bearing on that. Thank you for reading.
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wish that were true. as per window shopping. or in chicago s case window dreamin.
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I wish so as well.
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so how you look matters. and who likes you means all.
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Unfortunately, that’s the way it usually works, yes. I was expressing a discontent with that. Only way anything changes is accountability.
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i know but change is slow and from within
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It is.
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well Angela do not ever put that pen down again.
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Thanks, and I appreciate the conversation.
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one would hope it is a part of the plan. yw
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