MIR-YASHAR SEYEDBAGHERI

Body

There was once a plump man, whom I knew too well. He was Episcopalian, a bon vivant, a writer with a multitude of publications. All people saw was a body to dissect. Mrs. Drew, a friend from church, joked he was eating too much ice cream. He couldn't fit into his cassock, as if Jesus judged on weight. His father said he had man-boobs. I tried to diet. The world labeled me. I was anorexic. Too fat. I started labeling myself. Santa's cousin. Fat fucker. I laughed so no one could see the tears, which I stored in the night.

Mir-Yashar is a graduate of Colorado State's MFA program in fiction. The recipient of two Honorable Mentions from Glimmer Train, he has also had work nominated for The Best Small Fictions. His work has been published or is forthcoming in journals such as Escaped Ink, The Write City Magazine, Fleas On The Dog, and Sinkhole Mag.