Christy Lee Barnes
ST. CATHERINE, PATRON SAINT OF THE SOUTH BEACH DIET
St. Catherine, now that we have prepared
this sugar-free instant pudding,
sanctify it to our uses:
that each spoonful of aspartame emptiness
may usher in its own kind of satiety.
St. Catherine, there’s a Top Model marathon on
and they’re saying one girl might
be too thin. Okay, let’s multitask.
Fifty pushups while the judges decide
who smized right and if they’ll send
the really skinny one home
to atone for her sin of being so obvious. Look,
now she’s crying. You know,
I believe her when she says she just wasn’t that hungry.
St Catherine, stay a while.
Have a dollop of sugar-free Cool Whip.
Dig in. Let’s talk about how hunger shimmers:
How it starts at the back of the eyes.
How after a while it tastes electric.
How it’s not quite a headache, but headache-like.
How the edges go fuzzy.
I heard that you loved it so much
you named it God and they let
you keep on spinning your visions
and speaking just
as long as you kept on keeping
your promise to keep on vanishing.
And you did, you did keep it.
Shall we put the tea on?
St. Catherine, drink up.
Look,
your wrist
is small as a twig.