For University Mental Health Day we have a poem from Lucy Pettigrew about her own mental illness experience and recovery.
I Wrote a Book About Sadness
I am no longer trailing fingers on empty rib cages like I used to be,
I’m no longer as afraid to take up space in a warm room.
I’m now the warm room.
I don’t have secrets living in my stomach anymore,
just good meals and laughter.
All I saw was thigh gaps,
bones,
carrots for lunch
and walking and walking,
so much walking, so
much hungry.
I am now the name my parents gave me and
so much more.
I’m the current in the sea,
nostalgia tasting like summertime strawberries.
I’m the beat of the bass
and the feeling of finishing a book you invested emotion in, we
close the pages on the sadness and
return it to the shelf.
I am.