How to Triumph Like a Girl

I like the lady horses best,

how they make it all look easy,

like running 40 miles per hour

is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.

I like their lady horse swagger,

after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!

But mainly, let's be honest, I like

that they're ladies. As if this big

dangerous animal is also a part of me,

that somewhere inside the delicate

skin of my body, there pumps

an 8-pound female horse heart,

giant with power, heavy with blood.

Don't you want to believe it?

Don't you want to lift my shirt and see

the huge beating genius machine

that thinks, no, it knows,

its going to come in first.

Bibliographical info

Ada Limón, “How to Triumph Like a Girl” from Bright Dead Things. Copyright © 2015 by Ada Limón. Reprinted by permission of Milkweed Editions.

Source: Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions, 2015)

Start here: