Skinny High-Waisted Denim Jeans

By Ashley Laub

boyfriend jeans. mom jeans.

flare cut. jeggings. straight cut. wide-legged.

Skinny.

all different jeans

for all different types.

so one day

i could look in the mirror

and like what i see.

all jeans are made equal,

and yet one is more equal than the others.

Skinny jeans were never my favorite

and yet they filled my drawers

to an alarming amount

as if the quantity of Skinny

could negate the quantity of pounds.

Denim. sky. baby. navy.

all different colors

and all between

in an attempt

to compliment

all of the different colors

of people i see.

the colors collected

to create a gradient of a beautiful cast

but when i look

there is predominantly one color of blue jean

a denim to contrast the whiteness

that has forced itself into me

and everyone i see.

and I think

if we all see color

so differently

that my denim looks different

from yours

yet

we still tried

to look the same.

mid-rise, high-rise, low-rise.

a question

of how much you want to cover

and how much you want to hide.

the fabric wraps to your body

in an attempt to conceal

the words you want to say

but can’t

the only variable that changes,

some are more afraid

and some aren’t

i see jeans

from pubic bone

to waist line.

and mine of course,

all wrap at the top of my abs

odd how on paper my hand writes fluid yet in life my tongue is silent.

since the only constant is change

as my body fluctuates

my Skinny High-Waisted Denim Jeans

try to cover up the art

my body is trying to paint.

sizes range

from 12

to 18

to 10

to 14

so sick

of the paradox

my selection

of un-fit Skinny jeans

had assigned me

i put on Sky Blue Mid-Rise Wide-Leg Jeans

I look in the mirror

and finally

I like what I see.

odd how once I accepted my body

my clothes changed

to compliment

my new self-esteem.

wide leg, mom jean, flare jean, straight jean and more

the jeans fill my drawers

each one

for a different feeling

to convey

the parts of me

I had begun to adore.

at the bottom of the drawer,

is a pair

of skinny high-waisted denim jeans

well worn-in but no longer worn

in this case, more is never less.

Ashley Laub is a senior at North Penn High School. Her hobbies include singing, writing, and drawing. After high school, she hopes to move to New York to study art. After all, we don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we're members of the human race. It's what we stay alive for.