Mirror Image

She tries on the dress -
and discards it just as quickly.
Trying to smooth out bones
as if they were lumps of fat.
She stands in her underwear,
looking in disgust,
she's brittle and breaking
but all she can see is
FAT.
She grips at handfuls of flesh
as if she could tear them
from herself like the garment
on the floor. She runs
until she tastes blood in her throat.
Each drop of sweat leading her
closer to victory...
and her defeat.

Reviews

[Rachel]

Wow! I just got the chills and I'm lost for words. Being someone whose experienced the toxic lifestyle a hidden eating disorder can accumulate, this piece triggered my vulnerability. As I read it, I could see myself looking at my reflection in the mirror ashamed for at what I saw, at such a young age. Each line of the poem exposes the raw truth and dysfunction an individual struggling from an eating disorder like Bulimia can portray. It's a sad reality. Anyways well written! :)

[Lorry]

Haunting words of an illness that devastates lives, yet most see it as a choice of vanity. I knew one such person, whom it tore apart. She lost her job through it. She was working in a childrens nursery and was seen as a danger to the kids, as she had collapsed at work more than once and it steadily got worse from there. She was sectioned by her doctor, but as soon as she got out, went deeper into it. She sadly died from it, total organ failure. Few went to her funeral, thinking it was what she deserved, but as anyone who has suffered from it knows, it is not a choice and unfortunately, some do not escape its clutches.
Powerful words, with a superb and real ending.