Overweight
Anastasia Simms
My mama taught me sadness
sops grease
better than a piece
of bread.
And chocolate
can supplement
the dopamine
daddy stole from my head.
Now my doctor tells me
fifteen
extra pounds
will put me in the red.
I told her my brain is dying.
I’m trying
but I’m holding on
by a thread.
She didn’t even look at me
“Eat carrot sticks,”
she said.
Anastasia Simms (she/her) is a third-year honors student at Kent State University studying English, psychology, and creative writing. She works at the KSU Writing Commons, the Wick Poetry Center, Brainchild Magazine, and New American Press. Her work is published by or forthcoming in Red Cedar Review, an anthology by Lit Cleveland, and Outrageous Fortune Magazine. Anastasia hopes that her writing will positively impact others just as the written word has always done for her.
