Burn the Bloodstream

How can an odorless, yellow pill bring harm?

            Every time you say no to food, you say yes to thin.

One felt good so she took another,

            Eat clean, look lean.

not knowing two were an overdose.

            Greasy fries or skinny thighs?

There was no warning eight were toxic.

          Fat lasts longer than flavour.

She was still lucid on arrival in hospital.

            You’ve got to want to be thin.

But DNP boiled her blood,

            Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

she couldn’t be cooled so crashed

            I’m not going to be fat, ever.

burnt from the inside.

            Perfection is not attained where there is nothing left to add,

            but when there is nothing left to take away.

Outside, the wind had calmed.

It began to rain.

Emma Lee’s recent collection is “Ghosts in the Desert” (IDP, UK 2015). “The Significance of a Dress” is forthcoming from Arachne (UK). She co-edited “Over Land, Over Sea,” (Five Leaves, UK, 2015), reviews for The Blue Nib, High Window Journal, The Journal, London Grip, Sabotage Reviews and blogs at http://emmalee1.wordpress.com.