In the Bible / a group of men conspired against
a man named Daniel / jealous of all his holy
Daniel was cast into the lion’s den / and while
no one put you there / you must remember why
you there in the first place / that is / the day you
called your mother to wish her a happy birthday
was the day you decided that you would die
of your eating disorder. Every bathroom
remembers your name.
Your name is Daniel / your brokenness is not
the conductor of your orchestra / and sure
maybe your thighs are too big / and maybe
your body is too much / but maybe you could
stop making / everything about this body an
apology / because darling / what has your body
done to merit this kind of abuse?
Dear Daniel / follow the vomit back into your
body / remember who you are / remember
where you’ve been / this is your orchestra
you can’t sing with your fingers / in your throat
remember that your name was borrowed
from a man who survived / the lion’s den
remember that that man / walked out of the
lion’s den / so walk out of the bathroom
break out of the mirror / get off the scale
stop throwing up / stop throwing up / stop
throwing up / remember how your name
became survivor / fighter / warrior
but to survive /you must eat
to fight / you must eat
to conquer / you must eat
to live / you must eat.
So stop fighting yourself / and fight back
Daniel / pick up your fork / and fight back
Daniel / you are all that you have / Daniel
Beautiful is something you are / not something
you eat / you can’t rely on the way you look
to sustain you / this is not enough / an eating
disorder / is not enough / it will never be enough
so remember / that ten million people in the U.S.
with an eating disorder are male / remember
that you are one / of those ten million / and
I know you stopped counting numbers years
ago / but someone has to tell those ten million
that their lives matter / their bodies matter
their bodies matter / their bodies matter
Dear Eating Disorder / my body matters
Dear Eating Disorder / you can’t have my body
Dear Eating Disorder / you can’t have my body
because I was here / first
Dear Eating Disorder
I love you.
Dear Body
Dear Daniel
I love you more.
