DIFFERENT

We were young and skinny
--skinny is important in this story
as I am now too much weight
for my frame and my doctor frowns
on sight: didn't you say you
were going to walk? And dance?
and what about swimming, she says?
The no to her question the reason
I am no longer skinny

the no longer young is the years
between 16 and now and the 
way they weigh on my soul

I want to be different
I want to be different
while everyone says
love the you that you are
but they can't see me
dressed in baggy to hide
the weight of me
to hide the years
to hide the regrets
that bulge like my stomach

and I want to be different
though not like I was
when I was young and skinny

© Valerie Bridgeman
June 14, 2013