Homage to My Hips
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
A string of emails from women that were inspired enough to write their own homage:
How fortunate am I
to have been born a woman
With hips like these
instead of skinny nothings.
Hips that blessed me
with so much fun,
But also the births
of my beloved children.
Older now, I look down to wonder,
Where next are these hips
bound to blunder?
>
> How about:
>
>
> These hips I see once were firm
>
> Now their reflection makes me squirm
>
> Whose hips these are?
>
> I ask aloud
>
> Soft as soft
>
> As soft as cloud.
>
>
> They move and sway
>
> An oarless boat
>
> Plumb and squiggly
>
> They help me float.
>
>
> Like two soft aunties
>
> Lost at sea
>
> Oh my goodness
>
> They’re part of me.
>
>
>
> On Aug 12, 2008, at 12:19 PM,
>
>
>
> Whose hips these are? I think I know.
>
> They still look like some young woman’s ‘though.
>
> They’ve been around both near and far
>
> In hallowed cathedrals and seedy bars.
>
>
>
> And yet they’re longing for more fun
>
> In shady spots and lots of sun.
>
> My hips are asking my friends to find
>
> A rich old man for them to entwine!