not like a head freshly shaven / nor a pitcher passed ‘round a full table / not a dieting triumph / a man relieved, or well rested / the dawn as it breaks
but the post food-poisoning pangs / tunnel vision in the heat / my womb when the moon is new / my arms when the body is gone and buried / my boughs when my leaves have fallen / the way that I feel weightless, legs barely kicking / just before I drown.
“lighter,” I say, “just lighter.”