I Don't Diet

Poem about bulimia

I Don’t Diet

“I never diet,” you hear me say
“I just eat healthily.”
But you don’t see the hidden foods
Lying within a draw,
The cakes, the chocolate, the cream;
Swallowed to end up down the drain.

These secret actions which frame my life,
Are so obvious to me,
So invisible to you.
You hear the lies and
See the disguise because I purge
The guilt and hate from your sight.
If you take the T from diet….
But that’s OK because I don’t diet.


The seduction of the first bite satisfies
The urge to fill this hollow shell,
And slows the raging thoughts.
Look at my hands, teeth, and eyes,
And see the signs within the
Scars and tears.

Each plan to confide the truth fails,
Silence must be observed.
“I can stop on my own,” I tell myself.
“This is the last time.”
It never is.
But there’s always tomorrow, right?