The Diet
The Diet
by Angelle Scott
A breakdown happens
and you reach into your filing cabinet
knowing you have stashed chocolate there
or perhaps chips.
You find a half-price Easter treat
and you peel the wrapper carefully
so that the candy will not fall on your office carpet
although you would probably eat it anyway
as the smell is coating your nose,
dribbling down your throat,
and teasing your stomach juices.
You raise the peanut butter egg,
pluck it from the wrapper with your lips,
and chew it one hundred times,
feeling the insides of the egg crumbling
into nuggets of saturated fat
and preservatives, coating your teeth.
After you swallow,
you feel unsatisfied,
as if the treat has stretched out the emptiness
in your belly into something much larger—
one hundred times larger—
with its smallness.
You try to suck the candy
out of the crevices in your molars.
You scrape the wrapper with your incisors
and lap up the curled shavings with your tongue,
eager to get your hundred calories’ worth.
Someone passes by your office door
and sees you with yellow paper pressed against your face;
you become quite still,
like a carrion creature wishing not to be spotted.
-refers from the word “eat” in the poem Treadmill by Melanie Faith.
Andrea Beltran (@Drebelle)
September 29, 2011
I love every detail of this breakdown. Excellent!
Lorrie S. LeBeaux
September 29, 2011
That is why I drink water and chew on the ice for my satisfaction “diet.”
That is a wonderful poem; you are so smart. I wonder why you got those brains from?
Sandy
September 30, 2011
The description is so vivid, I could see myself.
Forshame!!!!
jessiecarty
September 30, 2011
Loving the response here! Thank you lovely readers
Zena Ezeb
September 30, 2011
This describes my scenario perfectly. Well said!
Debbie
October 3, 2011
I think you’ve watched me.
Loved the ending too! So good that I think it will actually help me not have a breakdown today.
Linda
October 3, 2011
You are absolutely correct! When I have important deadlines to meet I grab any type of chocolate I can. The rush for chocolate becomes really bad when our school is having a candy drive. I have purchased over 15 boxes of the World’s Finest Chocolate and swallowed down all of the chocolate almonds. I am so addicted to chocolate that I tend to hide it from both my spouse and granddaughters. Thanks for your poem on chocolate. It’s a true wake up call for me.
Linda
Annmarie Lockhart
November 29, 2011
Laughed throughout this poem! Who amongst us doesn’t know this experience intimately? So wonderfully evoked!
L-Diggitty
December 1, 2011
You were totally watching me this morning, weren’t you??? You’re not going to write about poem about my bathroom habits next, are you???