We skip breakfast and lunch
don’t be concerned
We stretch, leap, fly higher than ever imagined
run in place
know our place
inspired, determined
by a strip of scotch tape
and a Seventeen magazine
super model Cheryl pasted on the headboard
We will look like her in no time
there’s no telling how the visual brain will respond
nowhere to go but up …
but I’m 5 feet
and apparently, Cheryl is 5’10”.
Why didn’t anyone tell me?
I queue up at the gym
face the scale
the consensus -
I weigh next to nothing
I hear an exhalation of defeat
the woman behind me
a drool of jealousy at the corner of her mouth
while the gym attendant cheers me on
exclaims good good
only five more pounds.