Role Reversal

  • Emily Davies

poem

You abused your body with things unkind
When your ribs poked through your pale skin you couldn’t bare to look in the mirror
Your friends told you you looked like you'd been dug up from the ground

How funny it is

Now I abuse my body
I feel proud when I gaze into the looking glass and my ribcage stares back
The world validates my feelings, applauding my aesthetic: “this is the best you’ve ever looked”

Now isn't it funny?

How one is said to be in full bloom while the other is fragile like a skeletal tree in the peak of winter

How funny it is

The way the world views the woman in relation to the way they perceive the man