I was afraid people will meet my weight before they meet me - shake the hand of the few pounds that won’t shift before they shake my own Growing into myself made self hatred swell in my expanse, it invited disgust to settle here, making a home for itself inside my suffocating ribcage These days, I’m taking up space, Slapping my thighs to watch the wiggle and laughing, not crying This is my body. I live here, I love here, I won’t be afraid of my reflection No sheets over mirrors to hide that flash of exposed flesh in the corner of my eye that makes my throat tighten, This curse has been handed down the generations, this gripping at the edges of our selves, turning concave inwards as our stomachs bite at nothing This is a present I won’t accept, I will not hand down this heirloom to the next young girl We are made to be human, Our skeletons are not the form to which we must cling -Nicole