About Fat

My breasts are growing smaller And, my nipples more erect in this lean state. The fat in which they floated Dissolved into a pool around my feet. I stepped away from it and dried off the residue. I am on a journey. I am going outside of myself, To discover the glory of a world I have always viewed through the eyes of others. I no longer need my protective fat. It kept others away, at arms length. In fairer more distant places. Where stares, and sharp intakes of breath could reach me. But not, the murmurs of their disbelief. I float like the red balloon, I read about as a child. The strength I built up From my long Internship as ‘the fat bearer’' The strength to bear the stares and sighs Will serve me well in this wonderful new endeavor I can now embrace the stares And council them. I flip and snap, like a flag in the sharp March breeze, flying above the trees. I watched that flag. Now I stand outside that self, And start anew. I reach out to a proverbial passerby. I say “Here, take this towel, I believe you are standing in a puddle.”