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The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping
The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping - Grace Nichols
The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping
Shopping in London winter
is a real drag for the fat black woman
going from store to store
in search of accommodating clothes
and de weather so cold
Look at the frozen thin mannequins
fixing her with grin
and de pretty face salesgals
exchanging slimming glances
thinking she don’t notice
Lord is aggravating
Nothing soft and bright and billowing
to flow like breezy sunlight
when she walking
The fat black woman curses in Swahili/Yoruba
and nation language under her breathing
all this journeying and journeying
The fat black woman could only conclude
that when it come to fashion
the choice is lean
Nothing much beyond size 14
This poem chosen for the BBC 100 showcase was a reading for the BBC programme Woman's Hour broadcast on 31st July, 1986. The Poetry Archive presents here an extract for review and educational research purposes. Permissions to share the full poem audio and text are pending.