"A girl with Anorexia" - A Poem by Dr Javed Latoo

Javed Latoo

It all began when she was sixteen.

She started getting, increasingly,

Worried about her weight.

All day she dreamt of getting slim, getting lean.

Her days revolved around counting calories.

She made every effort to avoid fattening food, 

To survive on soup, toasts, coffee and berries.

Her fear of being judged, fat and ugly, was overwhelming.

Her life revolved around specific chores

Of excessive exercises, 

Of inducing vomiting, of taking 

Laxatives. All hidden from her family and friends.

Like a tree in the winter, bereft 

Of life, bereft of glow, she lost 

Her every feature, every playfulness,

That made her beautiful, that made her desirable.

She was slowly withering, like crops 

In a drought, until her family 

Alarmed her to see a doctor. A timely 

Intervention, timely support, raised

The hopes of a new dawn

The hopes of her recovery.

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