and my daughter claims them
with childlike pride and I’ve
spent a few rounds
flat on the floor, unresponsive as
nobody’s business, so why should
I feel on the less-than side of the
catwalk?
Skin-deep seems a little underrated
as I try and button up and
cannot seem to fit myself—
except with my eyes closed—
into anything but
less-than, almost, tired
day-to-day-ness filled with who I
might have been
if I hadn’t lost my figure, and
(foolishly, I know)
I wish for my size-six days,
complete with vanity and confidence
and I consider giving back
all that wisdom, hard-won and
opposition-thwarting
though it is.
Still, he tells me I am more-than
and enough to fill his world twice over, and
I don’t need blonde highlights or
six-pack abs to impress him.
And I believe it most as he whispers in
the nearly-dawn or past-bedtime
and traces silver vines that climb
my belly, not so flat but full of life again.
Lara Niedermeyer’s love of writing came second to her love of dancing for thirty years. As it’s simpler to write with a child hanging off each leg than to do a pirouette, she’s made a change in direction. She adores living in the Pacific Northwest with her fabulous husband and spectacular children. She enjoys writing, reading, good television, and living the life of a realistic optimist (in which she sees no conflict).
