Formerly Fat

"I rise up
and run the stairs,
pausing  to lock the
door behind me;
the bell has rung."

I have
powerful
legs from carrying
the weight of it all—
all these years:
your snorting laughter,
the pain in your eyes,
future hope/past regret,
the fun we never had.

I could not grow up
and leave it behind
so I grew out,
became bigger than
all of us put together -
a bigger container.

It was a germ
growing;
fed poison,
it prospered.

Now
I can rise
effortless
out of the chair.
My burden is less;

however,
in the cycle,
guilt follows pain.

I rise up
and run the stairs,
pausing  to lock the
door behind me;
the bell has rung.

Now
I have power;
no one looks
at me with pity.

Only the smallest
piece of you hasn’t
been given away.
 ------

The Collected Chaff, v. 1.0