{"id":36020,"date":"2014-05-13T20:18:37","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T00:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=36020"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:46:35","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:46:35","slug":"dblog-week-as-compared-to-the-ideal-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=36020","title":{"rendered":"DBlog Week: As Compared to the Ideal Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the second day of Diabetes Blog Week<\/a>. Its founder, Karen Graffeo<\/a>, proposes: \u201c<\/em>Write a poem, rhyme, ballad, haiku, or any other form of poetry about diabetes.” Here is something I drafted back in November, when I was writing a poem a day<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Self Portrait<\/h2>\n

You never change, do you? Every morning, you stand
naked near the bathroom mirror. I try to look away, but
always in the minute before stepping into the shower
I look. The pale, un-firm flesh on your belly I see first.
The navel is like an eye that my eyes stare into. Around it,
the fat is mottled by insulin injections.<\/p>\n

We cannot blame this on poor fitness habits or
our parents’ DNA. Or maybe we can: diabetes is
genetic. The old disappointments also show
themselves: the squared hips and dip between hip
and leg, the small breasts, the pubic patch, still dark.
There are no lines, no planes, no impressive angles. If
I had to draw us, I don’t know that I could find a reference
in geometry. No circle or oblong or rectangle would do.
Even the oval head is flat at the back when I study it in
two mirrors angled just so. Every day,<\/p>\n

the familiar sight is still there, and I remain surprised
it has not changed overnight into the transmuted
image of me that I desire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[1294],"yoast_head":"\nDBlog Week: As Compared to the Ideal Self<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self Portrait You never change, do you? Every morning, you stand naked near the bathroom mirror. 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