October 2021 Flash Lit 10: Measure Twice

Measure Twice

 

I step on the scale

every morning and

get a number.

How do I measure up?

How close am I

to Barbie?  To 10?

To a BMI that does not

make the doctor wrinkle

her nose and her lab coat?

I write the number down

because I do want

a long laughing life

full of bikes and sunsets,

quilts and books and

trips to the zoo.

 

Then I open my notebook

and measure out my heart

with green ink,

my thoughts in curls

of cursive, rate my health

on a scale from

epic to lyric.

The heart, after all,

has an iambic beat.