Since we are on the subject of fat I came across this whimsical poem written by David Harris Ebenbach of Richmond, Indiana titled Belly
I finally notice it at a dinner party,
They way it stretches my shirt,
Its urgency from the cake I’ve eaten,
Its nerdy gurgles all the way home.
My wife has noticed it , too.
She eyes it from her side of the bed.
My belly is new topography for us. She says,
You really should do something about that.
I take it by car to the doctor’s office,
Sit among other people with wrong-sized parts;
There is a swollen hand in the lap next to me,
A puffy face staring at me over the magazines.
When it’s my turn, the doctor examines my roundness
As thought an explorer determined to map me;
There may be an alternate route to the Indies
Laid out somewhere on these curving new lines.
Eventually, the doctor relaxes on the rolling stool,
Assures me that everything will be all right in time.
It seems that I have merely eaten too much.
If I just eat less, the doctor assures me, the gut will shrink….