I look at myself in the mirror
My prescribed vision has never been clearer
But my eyes start to blur as the tears roll down
I don’t feel beautiful, I feel like a cow
I look at myself in the mirror
My prescribed vision has never been clearer
But my eyes start to search for every flaw that I have
The stretch marks on my skin, the hives on my back
A thought claws out from the back of my mind
“This body of mine needs its shaping relined”
Through tears I stare and poke and prod
The origins of that horrible thought
At the end I find a whole vicious plot
To get me to surrender my joy
I will not
I look at myself in the mirror
Shaken, battered, bruised by the world
The expectations placed on a black man to be strong, savage, and fertile have gone too far
I break the chains that have held me down
That prescription was wrong but I can see clearly now
They lied about my body to me
They said big was worse and black was dirty
They pushed me to hate myself and for what?
So i could give them more money, be docile, unfree?
If they want a savage, then that they will see
It is savage to love yourself thin, thick, sharp as a diamond ring
They called my ancestors savage for doing the same thing
Unruly Bodies 
This is a really well-written poem that obviously reveals a lot of deep, personal feelings. It’s so unfortunate that just when someone begins to feel good enough about an aspect of themselves, society shuts it down. Whether it’s a beauty trend, a weird look, or even a comment, there’s always something there to regress any progress regarding the way one feels about themselves. This sparks the question: Will anything about the way someone looks ever truly be good enough within society?
I love how you used “prescribed” in this poem and how it shows that your self image isn’t just from yourself but actually from society and how you break free from it to see your true self. This is a beautiful poem that is so emotional and powerful and I enjoyed it a lot