Paradigm || Owoeye Olajumoke

 

by Owoeye Olajumoke

I know

you wish to shed your skin like a snake

or burn some flesh as an incense

and raise a toast to Aphrodite

to permit you have a fair share of lithe body

I know

when you stand on the scale of pulchritude

you're deemed underweight

because your arse is a simile for plank

and your figure is an antonym of hourglass

I know

a girl sweats at the gym to burn fats fast

she does not refer to her body as home

each awful word left a scar

till she became a map for melancholia

I know

another girl swallow pills fast to get fat

but beauty has no uniform

it dresses in all size, shape and skin

and your body is a paradigm. 

***

Owoeye Olajumoke has a degree in biochemistry and a passion for poetry amidst other literary works. She loves to read Robert Frost and listen to Beautiful Nubia. 

Her poems have appeared in Nnoko stories, Nantygreens Writers Space Africa, and Upwrite magazine. She is inspired by the girl child and the desire for an healthy life. 

She writes from Plateau state in Nigeria. Say hello to her on Facebook @ Owoeye Olajumoke.