Size / / /

They don't have sex or else
the men would disappear,
engulfed,
eclipsed like earth straddled by the moon.

They have no hands.
They do no work,
except the rotund mamas
stirring their stewpots,
underarms a-jiggle.

They have no feet.
Where shall they walk?
How should they climb?
No one will dance with them.

They have no voices
except to sing opera
—but then it's all over.
Better they shut up.

All fat women are the same fat woman,
double chins redundant.
They have no biographies
because they have
no souls.

Fat men,
now, they’re substantial.
They are pockets stuffed with
speeches and dollars but

fat women are vapors;
they pour down as acid rain,
infest lagoons,
hex the subways,
ice the runways,
jam the airways,
rust the metal,
curdle the cream,
and cause male-pattern baldness.




Sandi Leibowitz has been, among other things, the Sands Point Hag, a psaltery player, a secretary at NY's Museum of Natural History, a fundraising associate, and a school librarian. Her speculative fiction and poetry may be found at Mythic Delirium, Goblin Fruit, Luna Station Quarterly, and other far-out places.
Current Issue
25 Sep 2023

People who live in glass houses are surrounded by dirt birds
After a century, the first colony / of bluebirds flew out of my mouth.
Over and over the virulent water / beat my flame down to ash
In this episode of  Critical Friends , the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Aisha and Dan talk to critic and poet Catherine Rockwood about how reviewing and criticism feed into creative practice. Also, pirates.
Writing authentic stories may require you to make the same sacrifice. This is not a question of whether or not you are ready to write indigenous literature, but whether you are willing to do so. Whatever your decision, continue to be kind to indigenous writers. Do not ask us why we are not famous or complain about why we are not getting support for our work. There can only be one answer to that: people are too busy to care. At least you care, and that should be enough to keep my culture alive.
Issue 18 Sep 2023
Issue 11 Sep 2023
Issue 4 Sep 2023
Issue 28 Aug 2023
Issue 21 Aug 2023
Issue 14 Aug 2023
Issue 7 Aug 2023
Issue 31 Jul 2023
Issue 24 Jul 2023
Issue 17 Jul 2023
Load More
%d bloggers like this: