6 Poems About Self Love You Didn’t Know You Needed
*For best results, I recommend reading with a face mask and cup of chamomile tea. Click on the poet’s name to read the full poem!
It's that time of year again! The time where we're running in circles trying to make sure the ones we love feel loved and ensure that everything is perfect for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa...the holidays. It's so easy to let our wellbeing and our self-preservation fall by the wayside during this time. We tell ourselves that this self-neglect is just until the new year, that once New Years rolls around we're going to focus on getting right, losing weight, and reaching for our dreams. Truth is, we shouldn't ever lose sight of self and the importance of prioritizing mental stability and self-love. We only get one mind, body, and soul and it's imperative that we nourish it every moment of every day.
In order to do so, this week I've curated a list of poems that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside at the thought of myself. I hope they have an even more intense* and beautiful effect on you.
6. Supermodel
I'm not looking for validation or acceptance,
I want to be desired with celebration of my presence.
where I'm loved beyond perception and vanity,
all the while my beauty is still cherished
as much as I see it in myself.
I found this poem while on Twitter and it immediately spoke to me -- mostly because the creator said it was inspired by Supermodel by Sza. This piece eloquently describes the fact that its within human nature to want intimacy, but that should come at the hands of someone who loves you as much as you love yourself, and only you can dictate that.
5. Phenomenal Woman
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
This poem taught me to cherish every step I take because there's power in confidence and womanhood separately. But together, they're unstoppable.
4. Golden Child
You don't have to be afraid cause time is on your side
and they don't know the power you possess
or the beauty that's inside
This is the first poem in Alicia Key's book of song lyrics and poems, Tears for Water. The meaning behind the name of this book is what drew me to it. She sees the beauty in all that makes her cry and doesn't mind allowing all of those moments to shape her. That's what it means to drink her tears for water.
3. an excerpt from Milk and Honey
i do not want to have you
to fill the empty parts of me
i want to be full on my own
My best friend sent me this poem and I'm better for it. Even in its brevity it oozes the importance of self-contentment. It's okay to be alone sometimes.
2. Dear Woman
The biggest mistake you can make Is removing jewels from your crown To make it easier for a man to carry.
This poem taught me that no man -- no person -- is so special that I should be a lesser version of the woman God made me to be.
1. Still I Rise
This poem is my number 1 because of the lesson I learned with it. In the eighth grade we were given an assignment to memorize a poem an recite it before the class. We were told to print the poem and turn it in for approval. When I got my poem back these parts were scratched out:
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
It was that day that this became my favorite poem. Imagine being able to convey the strength that lies with your femininity so intensely with just four lines that it must be banned in a Texas Public School. Dr. Maya Angelou made me feel strong that day, she made me understand that my black womanhood was so powerful and bright that people would, inevitably, try to dim it at any chance they got.
As always, thanks for reading! Have a great week 💋and remember to love yourself kindly.
Yours Truly,
