My eyes are brown and
my belly is swollen.
My mother always told me
"Everything in moderation"
as she repented of her gluttony.
The newspaper broadcasts a single uplifting headline
to moderate the heat
of a world burning.
I hear the government,
checked, balanced, moderate,
feasting on forests,
swallowing oceans, regurgitating filth.
I see double
because my eyes are brown,
clouded, like Earth,
not the blue-eyed child i once was,
but brown. So I eat
the plate in front of me,
following the habits of my predecessors.
My swollen belly is moderate
compared to theirs.