My sister has discovered

taco salads.

Not that I have anything against

taco salads, but

she's ordering them without the shell.

Not that I have anything against

shell-less taco salads, but

She says it's less fattening that a burrito.

Not that I have anything against

not liking burritos, but

My sister is twelve.

Not that I have anything against

twelve-year-olds, but

she wants to lose weight.

Not that I have anything against

losing weight, but

she has no weight to lose.

Here is where I draw the line on

Things I have nothing against.

Here is where I draw lots of lines,

Many of them absolute and all of them thick.

I do have something against a girl

Who isn't even halfway through middle school

Who will not eat a simple flour tortilla

With cheese and beans because she thinks it will

Fatten her.

I draw another line at a mother who would

Indulge her.

I draw another line at the society that would

Convince her.

I draw my last line, my hardest, darkest line

at a sister who knew better

But ate her burrito in worthless silence.