‘ode to my body hair’ by Gabi Cadenhead

November 13, 2022November 13, 2022

Black text that reads 'ode to my body hair Gabi Cadenhead my body hair is teaching me new words that fall in the spaces between gender: budding in armpit creases, tucked beneath one side of a chin, flowering in the folds of a vulva, snaking towards a belly button and along unshaven legs. as it grows I tend thoughts that aren’t mine: imposed revulsion, misogyny that has made a home inside me. I don’t cut them out like weeds but water them with grace, until saplings become forests and gardening becomes a little easier, a little closer to love.'

About the author

Gabi Cadenhead is a poet and composer living on unceded Gadigal/Wangal land. Their creative practice is one of intersections – between story and sound; between performance and protest; between queer bodies, feminism and the sacred. They hold a Bachelor of Music Studies and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.