HOMAGE TO MY HIPS BY LUCILLE CLIFTON

Oct 16

these hips are big hips

they need space to

move around in.

they don't fit into little

petty places. these hips

are free hips.

they don't like to be held back.

these hips have never been enslaved,

they go where they want to go

they do what they want to do.

these hips are mighty hips.

these hips are magic hips.

i have known them

to put a spell on a man and

spin him like a top!

When you read this poem how does it make you feel about your own relationship with your body? Reflect in your journal.
What about you doesn’t fit into petty places? It could be your big laugh, your wild imagination, your beautiful belly. Make a list of all aspects of yourself that need room to move.
Take one of those aspects from your list, and write you own poem titled “Homage to My Big Laugh…. or Loud Voice …. or Bottom or Belly or Imagination… You get to choose. Have fun. Be sassy. Take up space!

Mary Reynolds Thompson

HOW POETRY COMES TO ME BY GARY SNYDER