Tab and low fat potato chips

despite all earthly efforts,

it's difficult

to lose

weight, to become

your ideal

younger self again.

to be the person you once

were when 

the body was taut with

muscle,

without lines,

or cellulite,

or the strange sagging

of loose skin

under the arms,

or chin.

i remember my mother

drinking 

Tab by the gallons,

trying to fight gravity off,

while an enormous rubber

band vibrated

across her belly.

nothing seemed to help,

especially

after the arrival 

of the seventh child.