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Nomenclature
Hannah Bryson-Price

Names society gave my body:
          fat      repulsive    undesirable     disgusting
cow        project      fetish      
    big

My body is big.
Its gelatin hills 
on my back jiggle
comfortably
in my hoodie 
as my feet fly 
on the treadmill.
My body is big

     and it likes to run.
Despite my cuddlebear 
plushness, don’t be surprised
when I roll my eyes
if they say, 
“You’re pretty for a big girl.” 
“You’re strong for a big girl.” 
“You’re smart for a big girl.”
“You’re sexy for a big girl.”
As if no one expected
my bounding bigness
to shake their foundations.
My body is big

     but it’s not all of me. 
They saw my body
          has fat
so they called me fat 
          with daggers in their spit.
They saw craters
          in my thighs
and named me careless.
They claimed love 



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          for my body
and called it a trend
          asking for my thanks.
They saw my stomach
          drooping down
and named me heifer. 
They heard me walking
          and swore 
they heard a stampede. 
Funny how ears mistake
my footsteps
          for the earth trembling beneath me;
          for thunder shattering the sky
          after lightning electrocutes
          the ground I stand on
          returning flashes of light
          to storm clouds
          leaving remnants of energy 
          in my skin called 
          stretch marks. 
Yes, my body is big.
          It’s necessary to hold 
          the force of nature cemented
          in the woman I am.

The names I gave my body:
          big     powerful      beautiful     worthy
strong       relentless
       enough