This Walking Skeleton Poem by Paula Glynn

This once walking skeleton,
Only ever wanted to be slim,
So I went without food,
Determined never to be,
Ugly and fat,
Or a greedy pig,
That stuffs her face,
With chocolate and sweets,

But these emotions go deep,
My body losing fat and muscle,
As the tiredness from lack of food,
Makes me go to sleep,
No energy to stay up and party,
Friends seeing my body,
And telling me to eat,
When before they said,
I would be fat if I ate my greens and meat,

For I had been normal once,
I ate my breakfast and lunch,
And I had dinner with hunger,
Only too happy to eat burgers,
Chips and whatever else was there,
But I got curvy hitting my teenage years,
And others noticed,
The girls calling me fat,
Teasing me as they looked,
My lunchbox with its sandwich and apple,

So I decided to throw away my lunch,
I only had an apple and maybe an orange,
I would read diet books and cook,
Pretending I loved food,
And people praised me: at first,
And I lost a lot of weight,
People seeming to respect me,
For I had let greed leave me,
Or so I thought.

I became too skinny for them,
People encouraging me to eat,
But I remembered what they said,
When I ate greens and meat,
They were just jealous,
For I could look good in a bikini,

But my parents did not agree,
They sent me to an eating disorders unit,
At first I would refuse to eat,
And when I did eat,
I would exercise in secret,
I could not vomit up my food:
I would be found out,
So I slowly gained weight,
And was told I had a healthy,
Complexion again,
But the bullying and old fears,
Always creep up on me,
Those girls calling me a pig,
For I had been healthy and happy,
And they were jealous:
At least, that's what I know now,
So I eat my breakfast,
Lunch and dinner,
Knowing I don't have to be,
A walking skeleton to have worth,
And be respected by my peers,
No matter what society says.