Ana

Every mouthful I swallowed
made the number on the scales rise.

I looked in the mirror
and hated the stranger staring back
a warped portrait
of a girl I never recognised.

Calorie counting filled my head
until there was no room
for living.
The world narrowed
to numbers and fear.

I couldn’t see
how small I had become.
I was shrinking,
yet I believed
I took up too much space.

 

by Beckie