Written by Christina Ellison
Content Warning: Eating Disorders
The urges come and go,
the gorge-starve-gorge-
starve ring around the rosie.
I crumble into ashes. I eat
the ashes. I eat my tail,
my spine, my head, my tail.
Do you hear it too, that rattling
in my stomach? There’s a sudden
drop moments away, and I don't know
how much longer I can play on this cliff edge before I
f
a
l
l
d
o
w
n
.
.
Christina Ellison is an MFA candidate at Sam Houston State University, an Editorial Fellow at the Texas Review Press, and managing editor of The Measure. Her work appears or will appear in HUMID, PinkHeartMag, miniMAG, and The Afterpast Review. She lives in Spring, Texas, with her best friend, air conditioning.