Poem by EmpowerED Expert Tanaisha:
A voice that twists, a silent dark.
It told me once that I should shrink,
To fade away, to never think.
In mirrors, all I see is flaws,
A fractured self, a broken cause.
The world outside, so full of light,
But inside, I am lost to fight.
Food is fear, and hunger, shame,
My freedom is yet to claim.
Each bite a battle, each swallow pain,
A cycle I can’t break, remain.
Days are numbered, hours lost,
Fixed and rigid but what’s the cost?
I’ve traded joy for a sense of control,
My happiness it keeps hold.
Once I laughed, I loved, I dreamed,
But now it’s all just gone, it seems.
It has drawn its line,
And I am caught, confined, defined.
Yet somewhere deep, a spark still glows,
A hope that someday I’ll let go.
But for now, this war I fight,
A struggle hidden out of sight.
It’s grip, so cold, so tight,
A quiet thief that steals my light.
Once vibrant, full of dreams and cheer,
Now a shadow, consumed by fear.
Each day a battle, a constant fight,
With food, with mirrors, with the night.
It holds no mercy,
To it I bowed and curtsy.
I’ve built a prison, brick by brick,
Each rule, each thought, each starving trick.
I tell myself it’s for control,
But in the end, it takes my soul.
The joy is gone, replaced by dread,
Of all the things I should have fed.
Relationships, they fall apart,
As anorexia steals my heart.
I long to find the strength to fight,
To break these chains, to feel the light.
But for now, I’m lost in this maze,
A prisoner to this endless craze.