You Go Girl

What if I used what the therapists

I follow on Instagram call “positive self-talk?”

What if standing at the mirror

to poke at the doughy skin of my middle

or to pick at pimples that didn’t require popping

wasn’t a favorite pastime of mine?

What if I were able

to look at my body as it is

and as it will continue to be

And say defiantly, without cringing:

“Go babe! You got this! Slay Queen!!”

What if my entire worth as a being

wasn’t defined

by my failure to publish

a best-selling novel by 19?

What if I didn’t numb sudden self-loathing

with sadistic scrolling–

watching perfect-bodied people

make sourdough bread on unblemished marble countertops from scratch?

What If I didn’t then start to notice

my lack of homemade abs,

sourdough starter and independent wealth?

I think I could just let myself be myself

Clara Frey is a 19-year-old Mcgill literature student and emerging poet from Montreal, Quebec. Frey's favourite pastimes include writing poems on public transit and battling the urge to use ChatGPT for fear of losing the beauty of the written word. Frey's work has previously been published in the Encore Poetry Anthology as well as in Chouette Literary Magazine.