poem of the day 04.17.15

overeaters anonymous

my mother loved me

she fed me dish after dish at dinner

a heaping of pasta in three rounds

another hot dog coming out of boiling water

she kept candy and cakes

and potato chips by the dozen

the media loved me

i loved twinkies by the bushel

and shooting globs of canned cheese in my mouth

while i sat there like jabba the hutt

watching copious amounts of television

sat their contented with my evening snack

a cream horn, a huge piece of cake

a bowl of popcorn just for me

as my old man walked through the living room

singing, wasting away again in sitcomville

to the tune of a jimmy buffett song

the corporate world loved me

stouffer’s pizzas and hot pockets galore

mcdonald’s commercials and not avoiding the noid

a cocktail of sugar, salt and fat being cooked up just for me

in labs all over this great land

i ate pop tarts for breakfast every morning

until the doctor caressed my stretch marks

and went wild with rage

i sucked the heinz ketchup packets

and finished everyone’s fries

i was beyond husky

i wore sweatpants out of necessity

and those faded jeans with elastic waists

ate meatball sandwich after meatball sandwich

after meatball sandwich at christmas

because baby jesus loved me

until i heard my aunt whisper

christ, look at what he’s doing to himself

the kids loved me

a girl at school whom i liked

called me jumbo john

me and jimmy jackson played duck duck cow

on saturday afternoons

while the other kids played outside

i stood in front of my parent’s mirror

i looked at my girth, at my obesity

then i punched myself in the stomach

over and over again until i could barely stand

slapped my face

until i had red welts all over

then went and hid in my room

because more than anyone else

in this beautiful and benevolent world

i loved me

only i couldn’t yet figure out

how to express it best.