If I knew then what I know now …

 If I knew then what I know now …

I’d take better care of my body,

so it would take care of me now that I’m old.

I would never start smoking, never eat sweets;

I’d exercise daily and strenuously.

I’d get enough sleep, the full eight hours:

going to bed before 10 every night, I promise.

Or would I? Because really, I did know. 

We all really know the simple rules of health.

But we think we can cheat –

only a tiny bit, just for now.

We don’t understand we’re building habits.

Bad habits. Lifelong habits.

The sweeties tasted so good 

on the tongue and in the mouth.

And the cigarettes stopped me

from putting on weight.

(Too bad about other effects! I quit

in time to miss cancer; not emphysema.)

Least possible exercise, intermittent,

can soon slide into almost none. And 

anyway, it’s much too early for bed. 

There are poems to write. There’s Netflix.

There are friends to visit on facebook.

And I must get a late-night snack….

The title is Magaly's prompt for Weekly Scribblings #54 at Poets and Storytellers United.