“Shrinking Women” poem by Lily Myers – (CUPSI 2013)

Lily Myers, performing for Wesleyan University at the 2013 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.

She speaks of the pressure women feel to take up less space, to be small, to be quiet, and to eat very little.

“Women in my family have been shrinking for decades.”

“You have been taught to grow out, I have been taught to grow in.
You learn from our father how to emit, how to produce, to roll each thought off your tongue with confidence. You used to lose your voice every other week from shouting so much. I learned to absorb. I took lessons from our mother in creating space around myself. I learned to read the knots in her forehead while the guys went out for oysters.”

This poem was awarded Best Love Poem at the tournament.

Wow. Very powerful poem!

What are your thoughts?