Jennifer Jackson Berry: Fat Girl at Weight Watchers Meeting

I’m supposed to tell

everyone I’m dieting

& give away pants

as they get too big.

They say if you feel bad

about your loss, go to

a grocery store, pick up a bag

of sugar, of flour, 10 lbs.—

that’s what you used

to carry around your middle.

We clap for lost quarters

of pounds. This is the first time

I’ve lost more than sticks

of butter. When I slip,

when I cheat, I try

to imagine the alternatives.

But I fear the canula—

that lipo tool, long

like a princess’s wand.

The doctor thrusts in & out

just under the skin

like fast sex & the sucking

in like a little girl’s gasp

when she sees a prince.

Copyright 2016 Jennifer Jackson Berry. 
From The Feeder (YesYes Books). 
Republished in Vox Populi by permission of the author.