Bursting at the Seams

Do you remember the first day of school when you were a child? Your mom would lay out your clothes for you and there was an outfit you couldn’t fit any more. Imagine walking down the street and the seams to your outfit are tearing apart. You no longer can fit into the outfit someone else has picked out for you and you cannot allow them to keep picking out your clothes. You could no longer wear these outdated clothes because they were Bursting at the Seams! 

Bursting at the Seams: A Collection of Poetry by Chantel Massey uses vivid and vibrant imagery as an ode to womanhood as a black woman. Massey inspires and moves in her poetry through storytelling to foster a language and dialogue about rape culture effects on family, fighting illness, gossip, sexuality, being in love, falling out of love, womanhood, identity, spirituality, religion, about blackness and what it means to be black and/or safe in America as woman of color. She explores the complexities of intersectionality through poetry and lessons learned from her own experience walking into womanhood as a Black woman.