Thread: 300 Calories

300 calories.

There are two thoughts nagging,
pulling
in the back of my mind.

I call them binging and purging,
and they haunt me.

I have a secret life of mirrors
reflecting lies, reflecting bones;
I am my own skeleton inside of my own closet.

I eat white porcelain for supper,
I eat blue pills for lunch.

I cry my feelings into the laps of two men;
Ben and Jerry, because they listen best.

Then when I’m done
I can stow them in the icebox
and feel satisfied that they’ve got no faces.

I am hungry.
I am empty.
I am nothing.

I like the way this conveys a person drawing away from connecting with other people, rather than just having an obsession with weight. It touches more of the depth & complexity of eating disorders than a lot of the poems about these that I've read.

Loved this line:

'I am my own skeleton inside of my own closet.'

This is a powerful piece. I had to keep going back to this:

I cry my feelings into the laps of two men;
Ben and Jerry, because they listen best.

You really bring this topic to life. Wow!

Nae ;0)

Very nice and packs a punch rosie. I too, like that you've gone a bit below the surface, alluding to the real problem here.

I like the way you show her obsession and loneliness with only food her focus.

I do think the poem could be tightened a bit to give it more of a punch.

There are two thoughts nagging,
pulling
in the back of my mind.

Pulling and nagging say much the same thing so only one is needed and "there are" tends to be just filler words.

Maybe something like:

Two thoughts nag
in the back of my mind

I call them binging and purging,
and they haunt me.

here you could say - as everyone calls it binging and purging.

binging and purging,
and they haunt me

I have a secret life of mirrors
reflecting lies, reflecting bones;
I am my own skeleton inside of my own closet.

I eat white porcelain for supper,
I eat blue pills for lunch. ...instead of repeating "eat" you could say "swallow"

I cry my feelings into the laps of two men; ...don't think that is needed, Ben and Jerry is sufficient to give the dual meaning, which I love.
Ben and Jerry, because they listen best.

Then when I’m done
I can stow them in the icebox
and feel satisfied that they’ve got no faces.

I am hungry.
I am empty.
I am nothing.

Thanks for the read, enjoyed.