I Am Laura's Stomach Poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska

I Am Laura’s Stomach

It’s Monday morning, she’s got up.
When I asked her for breakfast
she told me to shut up.
When I asked her for my porridge
or at least for an orange
she told me to keep quiet
as from today she was on diet.
She has noticed cellulite
and decided to get rid of it.
In the day time it was a real crime,
she didn’t put anything inside me,
so, I thought to remind her about me.
I switched on the gurgling of my gastric juice
(after all I had nothing to lose)
at an average speed,
hoping she would hear me and would feed.
But nooooo! My anger began to grow.
I decided to strengthen the gurgling, the rumbling,
and…added a little bit of sound.
At last she looked around
and found a cabbage leaf,
I quickly digested it and cried:
I want beef!
At night when she went to sleep
I had only one wish – to weep.
I saw sweet dreams when she lived with her parents,
I thought she had inherited their habits.
How happy I was!
We always had the 1st, the 2nd and the 3rd course.
But hell! It was not for her so well!
She told them she had already grown
that’s why she could live on her own.
What else could I say?
The same story happened the next day.
I was very, very angry
because I was very hungry.
I’ve been shouting during the whole day:
Where is my salad?
Where is my soup?
Soon you won’t see me even through a loupe.
On Thursday in the day time
she gave me some plums.
But what’s happened with me? Was I really a numb?
I was so week, I felt so sick.
Without any questions, without any digestions
I’ve passed all the plums to the bowels
for them to know the particulars.
Next morning in the bathroom
I said goodbye to all those horrible fruit.
Do you know what ‘s happened then?
She gave me some yogurt.
My God! – I thought,
now she becomes better and better.
May be I’ll be a little bit fatter?
But…anyway…it’s early to shout “hurray”.
On Saturday she went to the restaurant with her boyfriend.
I didn’t want to offend her, so I kept quiet,
I so much desired to eat
a good piece of meet, something sweet.
You know that I didn’t eat for the whole weak.
“You look good, but you are very thin,
you have to take some food and it’s not a sin”-
the guy said with a grin.
I thought he was the greatest lad
and my dearest Laura was just mad.
It was late at night when she felt bad.
I was also feeling sad.
Martini, mushrooms, potato, beef…
all that nice food decided to leave.
Shut up, lever! She is clever!
Everything is under control,
she knows that I hate alcohol.
At night, with a little bit of fight,
I said goodbye to all the food she ate
without any regret.
Now I know: she doesn’t like to be fat.
Next morning she drank only mineral water,
her boyfriend has brought for her.
And I certainly kept quiet.
What more can I say?
We are on diet.

Larisa R (Odessa, Ukraine)