From Capter 4 - Recovery

'Now I'm Free' by Sophie

You wouldn’t spot me as ‘one of them’
If I stepped onto the bus,
Wandered the supermarket aisles,
Or ate in a restaurant.
I wear catsuits now,
Instead of baggy jumpers and kids trousers,
And laugh, dance and write.
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t change me:
It has,
Each time I see the scars
I remember how much there is to live for,
Life is just growing, beginning, burgeoning, blossoming,
My awareness is enhanced now,
Each unhappy looking girl
Scouring the nutritional column for fat
Saddens me.

The illness changed my life:
Changed it for the better.
You wouldn’t notice me now
Buying coke and crisps at the bar,
‘Cos I’ve been to hell and back,
And somewhere in between.

Now I know who I am: a fighter
Welcoming this gift of life and all its wrappings.
The future is brighter than the past ever was,
Or could have been.

Hell taught me many things,
As did the recovery in between.

Sophie