Denial
I don’t take the doctor seriously when she says it.
On the sofa at home I tell my partner:
“Only skinny people have eating disorders.”
“What about the people are who are eating themselves to death?”
“They’re different,” I say, before explaining
again how eating disorders belong to the skinny,
not the formerly-fat or the trying-to-be-thin.
He asks me to eat something: a chocolate biscuit,
piece of fruit, slice of toast,
without adding the calories to my calculator.
We stay together on the sofa until my panic subsides.
I swear to call the number the doctor gave me,
and he promises he won’t get the biscuits.
Charley Barnes is a writer who hails from Worcestershire. Her poetry is published by the likes of Picaroon, Bonnie’s Crew, and Atrium amongst other journals. Her debut poetry pamphlet, A Z-hearted Guide to Heartache, is available from V. Press.