A FREEING WAY TO WITNESS WOMEN - A POEM

Sitting at the pool in a beautiful resort, spacing out, then spacing in.

I start to notice the group of young ladies who are around age 18, laughing and enjoying slushees.

across the pool a group of bubbly blondes in their 30’s drinking rosé, and to my right, a group of women in their 40’s, mojito’s in hand.

And then other women splashed about, all different ages, ethnicity's and body sizes. Different hats, sunglasses and swim suits.

I scan the pool deck and I watch them interact and move about.

my body softens as I breathe in and out, just to witness how beautiful they all are. How attractive each one is in their own way.

Cellulite, stretch marks, scars. flat tummies, round tummies, jiggly booties and tight ones, too. Straight hair, frizzy hair, curly hair and fabulously blown out hair.

What I realize is that all the work I’ve done over the years to deprogram myself from the arbitrary beauty standard of the time, all the work to rid myself of internalized fatphobia, and to no longer see one shape of a woman as better than another had worked.

There was no longer a hierarchy of bodies. No need to compare mine to theirs.

Just a sea of radiant souls, glowing in their own unique ways.

What a freeing way to witness women.