It takes a modest weight gain for a woman
to experience bias, but much more for men,
a new study from Yale shows.-- New York Times, April 1, 2008
Divorced for decades, my friend
still displays a picture of his former wife.
Perfectly proportioned, Alba in a string
bikini, could be a pin-up calendar girl,
a Playboy playmate of the month.
I can see how the thought of having
had such a beauty, delights my friend.
He sees her now and then driving by
in her little red sports car --
she has come into an inheritance.
They wave to each other.
It was not a hostile divorce; he can't
even remember the reason.
Things had not gone well for them.
Alba remarried, had two miscarriages,
is now divorced. My friend, after
several disappointing relationships,
doesn't date anymore.
“Why don't you and Alba get together
again,” I suggest.
“Are you kidding? Have you seen her?
She's gained a hundred pounds.”
“That should make the two of you
compatible,” I retort.
“You could diet together,” I add
in a conciliatory tone.
“It's all right for a man to be fat,
but not for a woman.”
“I didn't know that.”
“Now you know.”
Helen Tzagoloff has worked as a microbiologist and often writes on subjects related to science and medicine. Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Blueline, New York Quarterly, PMS and other journals. She was the First Place Winner in the Icarus International 2002 Competition in honor of the Wright brothers. She lives in New York City.
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