This new self-awareness is evident in the final two
stanzas, where the narrator, still physically active,
embraces the capabilities of her legs, including the
fundamental ability to participate in reproducing.
Style
Free Verse and Experimental
Line Breaks
Fraser used free verse for the composition of
‘‘Poem in Which My Legs Are Accepted.’’ Free
verse is a poetic form that does not use formal
rhyme or meter, leaving the category wide open
to interpretation. Fraser, an avant-garde poet,
also experiments with line breaks in the tradition
of E. E. Cummings and other modern poets.
Experimental line breaks happen in unusual pla-
ces, such as in the middles of sentences, clauses,
and words. Lines are also begun in unusual pla-
ces, such as the middle or the right side of the
page. Fraser’s use of experimental line breaks is
relatively restrained in this poem. Although she
breaks lines in the middles of sentences and
clauses and starts lines in places other than the
left side of the page, she does not alter syntax,
break lines in the middle of words, or otherwise
play with the sense of the language that the poem
was written in, as she is known to do in laterTOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY Fraser is an experimental poet. Read her
2004 collage poemhi dde violeth i dde violet,
available from Nomados Press. What is it
about? How did it make you feel? Using
Fraser’s creative expression as inspiration,
compose your own experimental poem and
present it to your class.
Models and celebrities have a profound
influence on perceived ideas of beauty and
health. Assemble a visual aid comparing
images of models (male and female) to
images of ordinary people. For extra credit,
also make a historical comparison. What
characterizes beauty in the Western world?
Be specific about different physical features
such as height, weight, hair, and skin. Are
models healthy? Why or why not? What con-
stitutes a healthy body? What are parents,
doctors, and educators doing to give young
people healthy self-images and balance the
extreme ideas of beauty represented in popu-
lar media? Present your findings to the class.
In the United States, five million people
suffer from eating disorders, such as bulimia
and anorexia. Of those afflicted, four mil-
lion are women. Choose an eating disorder,either one of the two listed here or another,
and write an in-depth research paper about
it. Who tends to be affected? What causes
the disorder? How is it treated or cured?
What can friends and family do to help,
either directly or indirectly?
Fraser was influenced as a young poet by the
New York School, an informal group of
poets contemporary to, but distinct from,
the Beat poets. Read a selection of five to
ten poems from both the New York School
poets and the Beat poets. Which poems do
you like better? What characterizes the two
groups? How are they different? How are
they similar? Do you see connections with
either of these groups to Fraser’s work? Dis-
cuss the topic in an essay.
Word play is very important to Fraser’s cre-
ative process. Spend fifteen minutes brain-
storming unusual word combinations, with
related or unrelated contexts. Select the best
combinations and use them in a finished
piece such as a poem, essay, or story. For
inspiration, also look to the work of the
American writer Gertrude Stein, whose
work was known for inventive word play.Poem in Which My Legs Are Accepted