Contributor: Amanda N. Butler

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Always step on it first thing in the morning
right after urinating.
Never step on right after
getting out of the shower -
wet hair will add weight.
Always step on it before breakfast.
Never step on it before defecating.
The ideal routine is urinate-caffeinate-defecate
the morning after counting calories
and lettuce leaves
and denying yourself the office cupcakes
that were brought in to celebrate
December birthdays.
Always step on it naked -
the extra clothes will add weight.
Never step on it within four days
before menstruation -
bloat will add weight.

Always realize
that these rules were etched
into crystal cavern stretch marks
to try to erase them
that this arbitrary covenant
between your soul and
fluctuating numbers
was carved in tides of cellulite
in oceans of wrinkles
in waterfalls of bellies
to conceal the wellspring.
Always remember
the Forest Queens
with their life-giving branches -
they do not move their roots
when the wind tells them
they take up too much space.


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Amanda N. Butler is the author of chapbooks Tableau Vivant (Dancing Girl Press, 2015) and effercrescent (Dancing Girl Press, 2017). Her poetry has also been published in Hedgerow, Haikuniverse, poems2go, and others. She holds a BA in Professional Writing and an MBA in Marketing.