Sad lemur face
Your scaly salmon thighs
Providing you with weight for cedar plank
With panda fortitude you climbed shaky branches
Slowly chomping bamboo, eucalyptus
In this animal themed stanza only
The best has yet to be remembered
Because those times are hiding
Under beds in dorm rooms
In subtle stains on cheap low pile carpet
Down echo ridden hallways
The sound of thin metal locker doors
Mirrors rattling and magazine clippings whistling
There is also swimming
All those summers at camp
Feeling embarrassed about your tubby tummy
But being ok with your cute little butt
And what happened
When your butt got big to match your belly
And you learned the Greatest Love of All on piano?
It happened inside me too
A hardening of the heart, a swallowing of tears
Except I never had time for piano
Or all the makeup you wear
Frankly it's hideous
The way you try to cover holes and create shadow
Flying whale, sinking eagle, pregnant jaguar, clipped hummingbird
Not to put too fine a point
On anything that could be construed as judgmental
You were never that nice
You did question authority which was sexy
In a T-top Firebird or minivan or ice cream truck
You undressed and shimmied your shoulders
For a moment you were happy, lizard lips, gorilla back
--
3.15.12
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