Fred Aiken Writing

i stretch in private because
i’m not that limber

i stretch in private because
when i lift my arms above my head,
i’m embarrassed that my love handles are showing

i stretch in private
so that no one can see how stiff my body is,
how it creaks at the joints
without any rhythm

how my body doesn’t quite look like
a temple,
so much as it looks like a fixer upper
that no one wants to purchase
because it’s been on the market too long,
and has too many leaks,
too many corners cut during construction

but maybe stretching each day could fix something about my body,
if only i could remember