Eloise Williams

"The only body I have"
I’ve:
Loved with it.
Told lies with it.
Ate too many mince pies with it.

Dressed it in some questionable clothes over the years.
Poisoned it with drugs.
Filled it balloon like with fears.

Cut it. Bitten it. Watched bits of it sag.
Walked it. Scolded it. Taught it how to nag.
Spent hours looking in the mirror criticising.
Different parts of it every year despising.

Yoga’d it. Toga’d it.
Made it run when it wanted its bed.
Put it through aerobics until every part was red.

Broken little bits of it on several occasions.
Blamed the flabby bits of it for struggling relations.

Called it too short.
Let it be bought.
Sold it down the river.
Taken vodka to extremes without warning my liver.

Dyed its hair.
Painted its eyes.
Tried every product possible in efforts to disguise.

Dehydrated it.
Berated it.
Burnt it in the sun.

Sat on it. Picked it.
Prayed I’d get a better one.

Tired it. Squashed it.
Failed to de-freckle with lemon bleach.

Scratched it. Starved it,
to be weights always just out of reach.

Bitched about it in its company.
Hated it with all my heart.
But now that it don’t work no more
I wish I could go back to the start.