Thank you to J.L. Corbett at Idle Ink for publishing my poem today.


https://idleink.org/2020/08/01/the-rumor-diet/#more-1551

The Rumor Diet

A bulging stomachful

of high calorie vitriol.

Tables bowing under the weight of envy,

like too many books on a shelf.

Tables laden with too much, too much

disgust for others.

The high fat content of hate,

an overindulgence of anger

within the fare.

No restrictions,

the gobbling of swill,

sour, composed of trash talk.

The slurping of suggestion,

without fact.

perhaps implying“Somebody” said”,

or thinking it coy to add, “If it’s true,”

at the end of each unsubstantiated statement.

A regular fare

of amusement and surprise,

again without certitude.

Minds and hearts nourished by exaggeration,

loving the taste of scuttlebutt,

licking up the drips of innuendo.

The greediness of fiction,

that although lighter,

still weighs down the grapevine.

A newly reformed person’s regimen

of admiration and interest.

Energy units utilized to see

the vibrancy of life and of others.

Now, watching one’s weight,

burning off what does not belong on the body,

with the exercise of being grateful.

Careful with what gets put in the mouth

(or the ear)

and what comes out of the mouth.

Fat free of gossip and tattling! So slender!

So confident in the abstinence

of deep-fried jealousy.

An appetite for awe,

slimming the body 

and lightening the heart.

A thirst for trust,

a mouthful of adoration,

nourishment for the soul.