For this contributor spotlight, we’re proud to present “Full Volume Figure” by Jessi Farfan. This poem reclaims softness as something powerful, deliberate, and deeply resistant. Through tenderness, humor, and defiance, Farfan challenges the idea that survival requires hardening, instead offering softness as a form of revolution.
We spoke with Jessi about form, visibility, and what it means to take up space in a world that insists you shouldn’t.
Q: You write “softness is not the opposite of resistance / it is resistance “. Can you tell us a little more about how you see softness as a form of resistance?
A: This poem was heavily inspired by the concept of a fat person being described as “more to love.” I feel like the world values hardness. We are always told to toughen up, be resilient, to bounce back. So hardening is the default for most. Oftentimes that hardness comes at the cost of repressing emotions or lessening our reactions to things on purpose. To be soft and feel things freely and fully despite the pressure to be hard is my favorite kind of resistance.
Q: The poem is written entirely in lowercase and feels breath driven. What role does form play in your work?
A: Sometimes I have a form in mind, but more often than not I let the poems lead. I am heavily inspired by performance poetry and I’ve noticed my work tends to read as I would perform. As for my lowercase, I hardly ever capitalize in poems. poetry is one of those places one can drop almost all conventions of “academic/professional writing” and it be accepted. I love the freedom of poetry.
Q: What is your favorite line in this piece?
“and still, I choose softness. not because it is easy, but because it is mine. Because it is a part of me they could never thin out.”
Jessi Farfan
Q: The phrase “fat baby dyke” is striking and tender. How do you hold both humor and protection in that line?
A: It refuses the idea that fatness or queerness have to be spoken only through pain. There is humor in its looseness and unexpected declaration. Through that, the phrase makes a kind of shield out of tenderness. It names the self in a way that feels chosen rather than imposed.
Q: Do you see this poem as part of a lineage of queer/fat/ resistance writing? If so, who are you in conversation with?
A: The poem is in conversation with writing that treats the body as both a site of harm and power, and that insists softness, desire, and self-love can be forms of resistance. I feel close to queer and fat writers who refuse shame as the final word, who let their bodies be funny, erotic, defiant, and alive. This poem is my way of speaking within that tradition, and toward other fat queer people who’ve been told they are too much.
Q: If softness is your revolution, what does your next world look like?
A: A place where softness is the norm. It’s a world where people feel deeply, understand that vulnerability is the cost of human connection, and value those connections above all else. All we are ever guaranteed is our time on earth and the memories we make with it. a softer world allows for more meaningful connections to make those memories with.
Q: Where can readers find more of your work?
A: I have work published in MOIRA, Lucky Jefferson, Beyond Borders, and soon Shenandoah!
Love this piece?
“Full Volume Figure” first appeared in our inaugural issue, Issue 01: Embodied. It is a collection of work exploring the body in all its complexity, resilience, and contradictions.
You can support our contributors and hold the issue in our hands by purchasing a print copy.
Jessi Farfan is a queer Choctaw writer and educator currently based in Texas. Her work Centers lived experience and resistance. Her work can be found in MORIA Journal, Lucky Jefferson, and Beyond Borders.
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