EATING HABITS

4 months, my first
time in my high chair
looking at a toy
but with my mouth
open for food

See Mommy
didn't I tell you
I was the perfect baby,
why did you always worry
I wouldn't eat?

You're responsible
for the rest of my childhood,
all the friends
who were no longer friends
the first time they saw
I didn't eat
like they did

Why did you spoil me,
giving in to my binges --
hamburgers this week,
corn the next week,
chicken the next

I didn't eat hot dogs
or pizza till I was twelve
and how can we be a family
when I always eat alone
earlier

Well, it wasn't my fault,
I started out right,
I was ready and willing
for anything, and this picture
proves that.

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Copyright © 1997 by Rochelle Ratner.

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