homage to my hips by Lucille Clifton

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

I spent a good part of the week writing an essay about this poem, comparing it to another. One of two things happen when writing an essay - you either end up hating what you're writing about, or you end up loving it. This time, it is the latter. There is something about this poem that is so simple, but it says so much. She doesn't skirt around the fact that she has big hips - she announces it in the first line of the poem and it is empowering. She is not ashamed of them, because there is nothing to be ashamed of. That is what more girls should realize.  Yes, she is talking about her hips, but she is also talking about being a woman. She will no longer conform to patriarchal society's ideas ("little petty places") about how she should look or act ("these hips are free hips"). I really can't help but smile by the end of this poem. It sends a great message and was written with so much precision and power. Good on ya, Lucille Clifton.