10 lb.

Oh, What a thrill!
The cold burrowing through skin and bone
Eighty pounds even today
And I am tapping my foot thinking,
Ten more pounds, ten more pounds
Staring down at my shrinking thighs
Hands feeling frantically for my spine,
Fingertips dipping into the hollows of my collarbones.
The skeleton in the mirror is beckoning,
pulling me in with her dug-out eyes
ripping me apart with her haunting smile.
She is
my sister in her leotards
doing triple spins in front of an audience of three hundred.
She is my mother at breakfast
dissecting a bagel,
the girl sitting before me in class,
ribs protruding through her satin dress.

What a disaster
Eyes hollowly staring back at me,
the yellow painted on my knuckles
nothing compared to the rotting violet on my insides.
But I am still here,
Pencil thin and glued to my chair
Tapping my foot thinking,
Ten more pounds, ten more pounds.

Reviews

[Marlena]

Amazing, I think a lot of people can relate to this, if they have an eating disorder or something. So many people are insecure about themselves, this really hits home. Great job, you really incorporated emotion into this and I love how you added in the examples. I can't tell you how many times I've seen these girls in school that are so thin you can see their bones, and been like "How on earth are they still a person?" Great job, scary, almost. :)

[PistolxSweetheart]

Wow. I love this. I got completely wrapped up in the life of the narrator. My favorite part is "She is
my sister in her leotards.../She is my mother at breakfast dissecting a bagel,/ the girl sitting before me in class, ribs protruding through her satin dress". Excellent job.

[Michelle Lea]

Hopefully not to go off track of what you are saying here, but I come from a family that has huntington's disease, we get drawn up into meek little bodies and our brains begin to go.... but reading this part "Fingertips dipping into the hollows of my collarbones. The skeleton in the mirror is beckoning,
pulling me in with her dug-out eyes" is something I can relate to and understand what you are going through... I was raised up to believe that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, well my question is when is enough, enough? Generations and generations have had a slow detiorating death, just try to sit back and watch your family go through this situation, its not pleasant, its heartbreaking....I just lost my Nannie and my Mom is so drawn up in a nursing home right now she can't even get out of bed or recognize anyone....NOONE can understand something like this until they've experienced it. Try telling your kids that at late 40's or maybe early 50's that you'll be present but all they will see is you dying a VERY slow painful death drawing up into nothing but a skeleton.....

[DiggeyEleven]

I love your writing style, this is the type of stuff you read aloud and shock an entire crowd. Make them feel that craziness of life, the beauty that sadness can bring about in someones life. Great poem, great imagery, short and powerful.