This Gray, Unfortunate Place (2)

32 - Diet

My body is like the crisis with our climate-

Should've stopped consuming sugar,

like our atmosphere with carbon.

I wake up with a startle

when I feel my heart 

jump, skip, pop a beat or two 

as I try to fall asleep on cue. 

The taps from my closet

remind me that the neighbors

are closer than anyone

would like them to be. 

I still await letters

on which diet I should commit to,

but, in the meanwhile, 

still sitting, alone, in my room,

the cookies and cakes --

having purchased from the store on a Saturday --

remind my tongue 

that happiness is only a bite away,

and it's not like I'm smoking cigarettes, okay? 

Not like it's heroin,

codeine, 

or obsessing 

over an ex-girlfriend. 

It's just another snack

that'll give me more blemishes.