You look upon
her frail worn thin
frame with worry.
Frightened by the wire
thinning, wondering
when you'll see a plump
red face flush with meat
and a comfortable roll
over her jeans again.
Mother, that's was just a phase.

I have transformed since then
requiring
fewer calories to function,
I try to explain
the shadow of an alien
lanky, pale, hyper-extended
in places fat and foreign.

Someone else's daughter
maybe, but yours? No.
The loose draping of my cloak
hiding the bony figure below? No.
Ok for a model, but for a 26-year-old soon to be bearer of children? No.
Not skinny, but slender yes. A little extra
perhaps in the chest, would be nice.
If only I had more of a *****, would prove I eat and am healthy.
But this rail thin high fashion model wannabe, can't be.
It's not healthy.
You're too skinny.
What are you doing to get so skinny?
If you aren't dieting, you're not eating.
If you aren't working out, you're sickly.
You look skinny, disapproving
she repeats and repeats and repeats,
until I start to believe,
until I count every spoonful,
I eat and eat and eat.