Today, our fourth installment of Eating Disorder Awareness Week is two poems. The first, posted below, is from Kelsey-Brooke Scheumann, who submitted a poem titled ‘The Deadly Promise” to Dear Hope in the past. ‘The Fine Print’ picks up where the previous poem left off.

You lied to me.
I fell for your twisted game.

I signed your contract.
Bond to you, for years.

I traded in my friends,
my joy, and my youth
to keep our deadly promise.

It was never enough.
You always wanted more from me.
You wanted until
I was too vulnerable to fight back,
too weak to stand.

My eyes grew empty
and my body was hollow.

You were never my friend
you wished me dead.
And eventually I wanted the same.

I didn’t expect to sacrifice
so much to be “perfect”.

At the end of it all.
I had achieved nothing,
and felt ice cold.

If only I had taken the time,
to read the fine print.

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Find “The Deadly Promise,” Kelsey’s previous submission, here.

Stay tuned for another poem later tonight.

Remember, you are not alone,

and you are loved. 

-DK

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This post is a part of our Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Find the other posts here:

An Introduction To Eating Disorder Week – What are Eating Disorders? – He Called Me the “T” Word” – An Empty Home & An Empty Stomach: My Lifelong Struggle With Eating Disorders –The Fine Print – Doubt: Sarah’s Poem –A Journal on the Imperfections of Perfection – Nervosa

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Want to submit to this site and share your story, art, or article related to mental health or mental illness? Email wemustbebroken@gmail.com