she didn't need no stinking gym

i don't remember

my mother ever saying something

like

i need to go on a diet,

i need to lose

weight, i need to join a gym

and get in

shape.

she had arms like meat hooks

from all

the diapers she changed,

all the meals

she made

all the clothes she washed

and hung on the line.

she could carry three children

up a flight of stairs

and a vacuum cleaner

with no problem.

but when Tab soft drink was

invented

in the sixties,

she bought that by the gallons,

pretending that

would help.