Skip to content

All poems/Abuse and Recovery

Butterfly poetry collection

Anorexia Poems: Starving for Love and Life

A varied collection of poems gathered around this subject, with space for different voices, images, and moods.

8 poems4 minute read

Read and keep

Poems in this collection

Take your time. Copy a favorite line, save a poem for later, or move through the full collection.

01

Abuse and Recovery

"Empty"

Starvation leaves a hollow shell
Bones jut out, a prison cell
Wasted away, nothing left to tell
A body trapped in an anorexic spell

02

Abuse and Recovery

"Control"

Fingers curl around a cup of tea,
A sense of power surges through me,
As I deny my hunger, fiercely
I control my body, completely.

03

Abuse and Recovery

"The Demon Within"

Hunger pangs gnaw and twist,
The demon inside can't resist,
It whispers lies, twists and flips
An anorexic mind under its grip.

04

Abuse and Recovery

"Breaking Free"

My body aches, weakened by disease
But I realize what I have to seize
Freedom from this anorexic tease
And a life of abundance, filled with ease.

Medium Poems

05

Abuse and Recovery

The Hunger

The hunger inside grows stronger each day,
Whispers of self-loathing never go away.
Counting every calorie, measuring each bite,
The scale determines if I'm doing it right.

Friends and family voice their concern,
But I can't bear to see my body turn,
Into something that's larger than before,
My mind trapped in a self-made war.

The hunger rages like a wildfire,
Until I'm nothing but skin and bone, a wire.
I know I need to stop, to seek help,
But the hunger is all I've ever felt.

06

Abuse and Recovery

Reflections

I see myself in the glass,
And I flinch, I curse, I pass,
Judgment on every inch and curve,
Desperate to change and preserve.

The mirror is a foe,
A constant reminder, you know,
Of every flaw and imperfection,
Fueling my need for perfection.

The image I see isn't me,
It's a distorted, cruel parody,
A prison of my own making,
Of which I'm always aching.

I long for freedom from this reflection,
To see myself with love and affection,
Instead of the constant battle,
Between the mirror and my mental cattle.

07

Abuse and Recovery

The Empty Room

I sit in the empty room,
My tears falling like a monsoon,
Alone with my thoughts and fears,
I wonder, why am I even here?

The anorexia has stolen my life,
Taken away my joy and strife,
The only thing left is the hunger,
A never-ending loop; it's all I remember.

I'm tired of hiding in the shadows,
Of feeling like I'm on borrowed,
Time, because I know I'm fading,
But the anorexia keeps me raiding.

This empty room is my safe space,
But it's also the only place,
Where I can face my demons and fight,
To find my way back to the light.

Long Poems

08

Abuse and Recovery

Trapped in the Mirror

I am the shadow of the girl that once was,
Lost in a maze that nobody can see,
Trapped in a mirror that reflects my flaws,
Feeling like a stranger even to me.

The voice in my head is a constant pain,
Whispering lies that I have come to believe,
Telling me that food is my enemy, my bane,
That I am only worthy when I starve and achieve.

I count calories like a prisoner counts days,
I avoid food like it's poison for my soul,
I measure my worth by the number that stays,
On the scale, the lower, the more in control.

I am a slave to a distorted image,
A victim of a culture that glorifies thin,
I sacrifice my health, my joy, my privilege,
To fit in a mold that is impossible to win.

I am a daughter, a sister, a friend,
But my illness consumes every part of me,
It shatters my spirit, my hope, my will to mend,
Leaving me numb and hollow, unable to see.

The treatment is hard, the road is long,
But I refuse to let my illness win,
I will fight, with every breath, every song,
To reclaim my life, to find the real me within.

I may stumble and fall, I may cry and scream,
But I will never give up, never surrender,
For I am stronger than anorexia, it may seem,
And I deserve a life that's worth living, tender.

So here I stand, bruised but not broken,
A warrior in a battle that's far from done,
With every step forward, every word spoken,
I am one step closer to being free, to see the sun.

A final thought

A poem can stay with you long after the page is closed.

Share a poem of your own