Gender Affirming Care by Nikki Grierson

Gender Affirming Care Nikki Grierson When I was a girl Little flurries of hair Began to sprout Here and there At first I didn’t notice But then something made me care What if other people see, Will they point and stare? This worry, grew in my mind As I studied the weekly magazine Where cover girls were smooth Their skin had a beautiful sheen Was I a “proper girl” Like those in “Just Seventeen” So I began to study The art of hair removal Wanting so badly To gain my peers approval As to be accepted as a woman Becoming hairless seemed crucial Of course I was told “You are far too young” “Don’t worry about that, just keep having fun” But I stopped wearing shorts In the days that came with sun And at night I would toss, and I would turn For me, gender affirming care had most certainly begunNow it’s triggered It was here to stay If I was becoming a woman I had to look a certain way Clothing now more important Than the games I used to play I started to wish for boobs I even began to pray! Eventually we all had bras And fruity glossy lips But then came something else I wanted those womanly hips! Society was infecting me With its binary gender grips And here we are today Things have gotten worse As filtered fake images Keep our hands in our pink purse Then those trying to demoniseThose who want to live free, diverse Assuming those who are different Are nothing but perverse Helping to maintain the patriarchal curseMore from Nikki Grierson ↓@poeticallynikki on Instagram Mentioned in this episode:Write After with One Poem OnlyWrite After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. If you want to join: Listen to a poem from the month of April on One Poem Only, then write your own in response. I will pick one for each day to read in June for a special series: One Poem After 🍎🍏 Submissions close May 15.Write After Submissions Form