Ada Limón (1976- ) is the author of Lucky Wreck, The Carrying, Bright Dead Things, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and Sharks in the Rivers. 

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To read her poem, How to Triumph Like a Girl, click

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How to Triumph Like a Girl

by Ada Limón

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.

“How to Triumph Like a Girl” from Bright Dead Things, © 2015 by Ada Limón – Milkweed Editions

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