This Calculus

I pretend I don’t hear
          whispers strip my body—

shame beneath fabric, violations
          not my fault, a compliment—

a place where they discuss
          shapes and figures, mine today—I

stand at the whiteboard, red marker held
          between worn fingers: No

                Talking Please

 

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Lilia Dobos is an emerging writer from Salisbury University–currently studying at Lakehead University in Orillia, Ontario for the Fall 2018 semester–where she studies English with a concentration in TESOL. Her work primarily focuses on how outside perspectives influence personal identity in social and cultural contexts.