In Praise of Those Last Ten (…Or Twenty…) Pounds

In Praise Of Those
Last Ten (…Or Twenty…) Pounds

Oh, you ten (…or
twenty…) pounds…

You remind me:

I am not a teenager
anymore

(Thank God)

My life is not lived
just for me alone anymore

(Thank God)

I’ve got good food and
good wine and good appetite

Thank God.

You jiggle a bit.

It’s not a bloat; it’s a
blessing.

Softer.

Stronger.

You have lived through
the unthinkable.

Those friends who have
gone –

The love and grief for
them that remains –

Is that part of the ten
pounds?

The jobs well done that
no one praised –

Is that a pound or two?

And those ice-sharp playground
taunts, those adolescent bone-aches,

That twenty-something
battle for Self – ferocious –

Where is the weight of
that?

Jealousy does not become
us.

Ten pounds hardly seems
like a distinction worth making when

One body is so much like

Another.

Feet Leg Belly Back Arms
Head Hands

Not all of us have every
part and

There might be an organ
that’s not quite working right or

A hormone that’s out of
whack

We’ve all been a little

Damaged in transit.

But here we are.

Here to criticize
ourselves

Here to be a better
example to our daughters and our sons

Here to shove the
photo-shopped images out of the way and say

This is what the Body of
a Person looks like.

This is the truth of me.

All of me.

Only me.

And remember, if twenty
years from now you would find a photograph of you taken today you’d think, “Wow
– I had no idea how beautiful I was.”

So let’s put on the
bathing suit and go swimming.

Let’s invite our lover’s
hand to caress our belly.

And let’s put on lovely
clothes that fit and

Give away those
not-our-size-now clothes

Because believe me, one
of your

Brothers or Sisters (who
do not enjoy the luxury of excess) could really

Use those and Lord knows
they’re not doing you any good

Just cluttering up the
closet

Torturing you.

So we stand naked and
say,

“Thank you, Body, for
loving me so well and so long.”

Offering a blessing on

This Body

Whose

Shadow

Leaves an

Imprint

On the

Air

We Breathe.

By The Way, You Look
Really Great Today