Nina Marie Gilbert’s Womanifesta — Myself As A Work In Progress
This is me
there's no changing it
this hair that I cut myself
with the same scissors that I
clip coupons with
and trim my pubes once a year with
these stretch-marks
running across my body
like ripples in the sand dunes
at the beach
I never get to visit anymore
this body
pumped daily with coffee
and other various overpriced beverages
fuel for getting through
the changings, baths, earwax
the minutiae that drives me along
this face
that hasn't seen a zit
in over a year
because this body
hasn't seen a period
in over a year
this body
ravaged by sucking
chocolate chip cookies
more sucking
and lots of late night ben-n-jerry's
this body
a stranger to sex
but no stranger
to the poking and prodings
of swabs and stitches
and doctors' latex gloves
the loving hands of my midwife
the needles and IV's
associated with the birth of my child
if you look closely
at this body
you will see the hair-thin scratches
of my daughter's sharp fingernails
the overgrowth of hair
the longish toenails
and the three black hairs on each
of my big toes
that I would've never let grow
this long
in my old life
this body
has no time for such vanity
this body
who's responsibility
is to silently produce milk
milk
and more milk
the sole thing keeping my child alive
and thriving
this body
is happy, old and tired
and proud
of all its complexities
rolled up into
this body.
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