it’s not what you think

by Stacey Murphy

Image credit: salEh on Unsplash

it’s your estrogen drop 

it’s your cortisol raging on stress 

it’s drinking too much water 

it’s stuck fascia 

it’s your pelvis tipping forward 

it’s your fatty liver 

it’s your lymphatic system 

it’s carbonated beverages in the afternoon 

just stick your tongue out for 40 seconds 

just do this exercise for 28 days 

just drink mushroom coffee 

just read this three-minute article 

just use this three-minute Japanese technique 

just add this to your water and feel it working in 15 minutes 

just do tai chi walking 

just make one quick switch to shrink belly fat fast 

it’s the weight of the mental load 

it’s the obscene bulldoze of greed 

it’s the grab for control, subbing in for respect of women

it’s the relentless drip of national stupidity 

it’s the postmenopausal invisibility 

it’s the loved ones who fall more frequently but won’t tell you until the hospital 

it’s the seemingly immovable status quo

it’s the undigestible righteous anger

instead disappear into the woods to sit with trees, not people 

instead scream under water, release stress to the bubbles 

instead dance hard and wild, sweat into the earth what you no longer stomach 

instead reach your height skyward and arms wide so nothing can be moved out of reach 

instead refuse to step out of the way on the street 

instead laugh and say “what a ridiculous comment to make” to people needing to hear that 

instead commiserate with the cronedom 

instead notice and stretch toward the shift you want.  

Like love, it will grow when acknowledged. 

***

Stacey Murphy

Stacey Murphy’s poems appear in several anthologies, seasonal nature journal The Avocet, and in several online places. Her first poetry collection, Old Stones Understand (Shanti Arts, 2021) won a Royal Dragonfly Award; her second, Wolf, Flower, Frost: 12 Months of Moons will be published in 2027 by Shanti Arts. Stacey co-edited NY Votes for Women: A Suffrage Centennial Anthology (Cayuga Lake Books, 2017), a collection of historical and activist poetry and prose. She is a member of the Central NY branch of the National League of American Pen Women.