You Don't Have to Be Everything Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves

Diana Whitney writes across genres with a focus on feminism, motherhood, and sexuality. Her first book, Wanting It, became an indie bestseller in poetry. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, the Washington Post, and many more. A feminist activist in her Vermont hometown and beyond, Diana works as an editor and a yoga teacher. diana-whitney.com

 

HOW TO BE REAL: Poets and poems  
 
Aria Aber, “Self Portrait as Wounded Doe of Artemis.” 
Elizabeth Acevedo, “Night Before First Day of School.” 
Kim Addonizio, “‘What Do Women Want?’” 
Maya Angelou, "Phenomenal Woman" 
Margaret Atwood, “Flying Inside Your Own Body” 
Angélica María Aguilera, “in critique of modesty.”
Leslie Marie Aguilar, “Event Horizon.” 
Kate Baer, “For My Daughter on a Bad Day.”
Blythe Baird, “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny.” 
S. Erin Batiste, “Questions Asked to Me When I Was Ten.” 
Tamiko Beyer, “And if by invisibility.”
Sheila Black, “What You Mourn.” 
Paige Buffington, “Away From Home.” 
Holly Burdorff, “Song to Elise.” 
Stephanie Burt, “Final Exam Stephanie” 
Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, “Origin/Adoption.” 
Kayleb Rae Candrilli, “On Crescents & Transitions & Waning.” 
Leila Chatti, “Confession” 
Franny Choi, “Solitude” 
Lucille Clifton, “Homage to My Hips.” 
Dominique Christina, “The Period Poem.”
Natalie Diaz, “Why I Hate Raisins” 
Amy Dryansky, "Lost & Found."
Denise Duhamel, “I’ve Been Known.” 
Safia Elhillo, “Ode to Gossips.” 
Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, “Flowers #3.”
Tarfia Faizullah, “Self-Portrait as Mango” 
M. J. Fievre, “I Will Practice Self-Talk.” 
Andrea Gibson, “No Filter.” 
Nikita Gill, “Wolf and Woman.” 
Wendy Guerra, “Playing Hide and Seek.” 
Joy Harjo, “For Keeps.”
Rage Hezekiah, “On Anger.” 
JP Howard, “What to Say to a Friend Who Wants to Give Up.” 
Marie Howe, “Practicing.” 
Laura Kasischke, “Bike Ride With Older Boys.” 
Sarah Kay, “On the Discomfort of Being in the Same Room as the Boy You Like.” 
Jane Kenyon, “Insomnia”
Joy Ladin, “Survival Guide.” 
Dorianne Laux, “Fast Gas” 
Melody Lee, “Growing Up.” 
Ada Limon, “How to Triumph Like a Girl.” 
Lynn Melnick, “Landscape With Clinic and Oracle.”
Mary Meriam, “The Mockers.”
Naomi Shihab Nye, “The Rider”
Sharon Olds, "I Go Back to May 1937." 
Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese.” 
Sara Peters, “Rehearsal.” 
Alison Prine, “Rearview Mirror: February.” 
Fariha Róisín, “self-portraiture.” 
Alison C. Rollins, “Skinning Ghosts Alive” 
Sahar Romani, “The Year I Tell my Parents I am a Homosexual.” 
Natalie Scenters-Zapico, “Sonnet for a Dollar” 
Brenda Shaughnessy, excerpt from “Is There Something I Should Know” 
Evie Shockley, “coming of age.” 
Elizabeth Spires, “Questions for Google.” 
Maya Stein, “dancing with my mother at a cousin’s bat mitzvah.” 
Melissa Stein, “Harder” 
Bianca Stone, “Ones Who Got Away With It.” 
Talin Tahajian, “With pretty legs.” 
Michelle Tea, “Oh God.” 
Clara Bush Vadala, “she plays hockey on a boys’ team.” 
July Westhale, “Love Arrived May Find Us Someplace Else.” 
Diana Whitney, “Wanting It.” 
Rachel Wiley, “But They Say I Will Not Make It.” 
Crystal Williams, “Night Bloom.”