Anastasia Vassos
Do These Earrings Make My Ass Look Fat?
Are my tits too big.
My bra too small.
My hair too short.
My arms too hairy.
Is my nose too wide. Should I dye
my eyelashes. Lose weight.
Are my thighs too wide.
Should I close my eyes.
Is my tone too shrill.
Does it pierce your ear.
Is my stride too long.
Should I stop insisting.
Why don’t you trust me.
Where should I sit.
How high is the ceiling.
How low do I stoop.
Why must I wait.
Will I live in a shoe.
Should I eat small children.
Whose body is it.
What does my body.
And when does my body.
Do you hear the heartbeat.
Did you hear me say no.
Which way is safe. When will it stop.
How long is too long.
What is my fault.
What stands in my way.
What came out of nowhere.
Why should I care. Do I care.
Do I, do I, do I.
Why do I stutter.
What is your point.
How long will I listen.
Don’t point that thing at me.
Shut the fuck up.
The poems of Anastasia Vassos have appeared or are forthcoming in Gravel Mag, Blast Furnace, Haibun Today, Literary Bohemian, Lily Poetry Review, and Comstock Review, among others. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and currently lives, writes, and teaches in Boston. She was a BreadLoaf General Contributor in Poetry. In 2017, her poem “Tinos, August 2012” was named Poem Of The Moment on MassPoetry.org. She is a long-distance cyclist.
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