Shining Through

Photography by Katharine Weinmann
 

“As a seeker and intrepid traveler, I look for beauty and its imperfections, hoping to capture the shimmer and essence.”
Katharine Weinmann writes award-winning poetry, walks long distances, sees beauty in life’s imperfections and photographs its shimmer. She blogs at A Wabi Sabi Life and lives with her husband and their dog Walker, on the Canadian prairies. 
www.awabisabilife.ca

Body

Poetry by Kelsey Coletta

CW: Risky Behavior & Mental Health


I nearly killed myself accidentally of course but by the time I decided I didn't want to die, I had already been reduced to a shell of 
       the person I think I used to be
I packed my bags and planted kisses on cheeks and promised  
       that I would get better    
my stomach groaned and kept me up all night but I pretended I didn't see the staff peak into my room
       as they did fifteen minute checks
in treatment they make you do things like eat breakfastsnacklunchsnackdinnersnack and they call it     redirection when they ask you 
       not to play with your food
each week we had to cook a meal, all eight strangers in a kitchen trying not to count the calories of 
       every food we touched
I (wouldn’t) couldn't eat so eventually insurance said I could just starve myself at home which meant
       less paperwork for them
I want to say I tried but I couldn’t silence the noise in my brain 
       and
       no one understands that it has nothing to do with 
       people in magazines 
       and everything to do with 
       an ache beneath my skin that won’t
       let me exist in peace because 
       I’ve created a body that 
       doesn’t feel like
                    mine
Kelsey Coletta is a Rhode Island based licensed clinical therapist. She is a graduate of both Rhode Island College and Simmons University. Her work has appeared in You Might Need to Hear This, Hawai'i Pacific Review, Prosetrics, Frazzled Lit, Anti-Heroin Chic, and TPT Magazine.
X: @thehiccupotamus