The Glow

Saliha Shariff

CN: Eating disorders; body image

 

It began,
as always,
quite slowly –
the space filling between two ribs,
the thinnest cushion enveloping her hips.

And
as always,
she noticed every extra layer,
waiting with
baited breath
for the instinct to
kick in,
the disgust,
the loathing,
the beast to take the wheel,
the appetite
to wane but
for once –
for once –
the battle was won by
her voice, not its.

For once
she just
kept
on
going,
building her body,
feeding herself until
she glowed.

She coloured between the lines of
every
set of ribs,
pinks and oranges,
blissful blues;
she wrapped her shoulders in a
blanket of promise.
Her entire being
beamed
as she filled out.

Nothing stopped her,
for she knew now that with
every sweetness,
every salty lick,
with every pound of new life
that she brought to her arms,
her legs,
her stomach,
her ass,
her breasts,
came another sprinkling of stars behind her eyelids,
another ray of sunshine in her laugh,
another little smudge
of that glow.

 

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Header image by alcidesota@yahoo.com-OFF-For Several Months