Out of the Mouths of Babes

Cherry

By Bee

Wed, 19 Mar 2014
  • 8633 reads
26 comments
 

I want to be thin, I want to be thin -
I want to feel bones poking out through my skin.
I will look all forlorn with my face pale and drawn,
be the weight I was born...
I want to be thin, I want to be thin, I want to be thin.

I want to be thin, I want to be thin.
Is that such a terrible sin?
To be light as the air,
if I starve I don't care.
Each new fangled crash diet,
hand on heart, I will try it;
I cannot deny it -
I want to be thin, I want to be thin, I want to be thin.

I want to be thin, I want to be thin
with no blubber and no double chin.
Give me a pill, I will take it;
thinness, you just can't fake it.
In the end, I will make it
past my ideal weight
before it's too late. 
I'll starve myself silly,
in the heat, I'll feel chilly
with my cheeks all sucked in
in a gaunt toothy grin.
Oh yes! I'll be thin, I want to be thin, I want to be thin.

I want to be thin, I want to be thin,
all ribs with my stomach rucked in.
And don't tell a soul,
but till I reach my goal
I will live on bog roll -
and if I live on tissue,
is that such an issue?
I'll feel light, I'll feel high,
on a breeze, I will fly -
I don't care if I die,
coz when it's time for the offin', 
I'll lie in my coffin,
a flossy plucked feather
dressed in skintight black leather,
on my stone it will say
that I faded away,
but I liked it that way,
and I went with a grin
because I was thin.

I want to be thin, I want to be thin
so I can bath in a jug, or a tin.
I won't eat, I will lick -
if I do, I'll be sick.
From food, emancipated,
I'll be emaciated.
Oh how long I have waited
to be body deflated.
I don't mean to be rude,
but I'll stand in the nude
admiring my legs,
stick thin as two pegs.
Though I'll faint on the floor
and be weak to the core
with my hair falling out,
I'll not suffer doubt, 
I'll have paper for skin,
but at least I'll be thin.

I want to be thin, I want to be thin,
as thin as a shiny new pin.
I will be proud to be me,
so small, you won't see me.
My thinness will free me,
and once it has freed me, 
there'll be no need to feed me.
To temptation, don't lead me -
oh hear me and heed me,
watch me and read me.
Don't try to save me,
I don't like what God gave me.
Bumps and curves, take them back
and I won't feel the lack.
My nutritionist - sack
for he hasn't the knack
to reveal my six-pack.
Though my skins slightly slack
and my extremities black,
I will be proud as punch
because I missed my lunch
without so much as a munch,
and I'll say, thanks a bunch
to those who might stare
because I really don't care -
I'd reject kith and kin
to be thin - 
I want to be thin, I want to be thin, I want to be thin.

I'll do all it might take
after one more cream cake -
just a minor mistake -
Oh go jump in the lake!
I still want to be thin, I want to be thin,
I want to be thin!!!!!

Certificate 18
Poem
Surreal

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

The subject of the moment?! But, apart from having much fun with the rolling rhythms and rhymes, it does  make its point so sharply, while still keeping the teasing light-heartedness right to the end, altogether rather clever! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Bee on

Oh, thanks, Rhiannon. I'm glad it came across ok.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Couldn't agree with Rhiannon more.  

A very cleverly written poem, Bee, both in its style and content.

Tinasmiley

 

Submitted by Bee on

Thanks Tina. Pleased you liked.

Bee

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

it is indeed the subject of the moment -did you read Vera's wonderful peice yesterday? Two very different approaches, both very very good

 

Submitted by Bee on

Hi insert.  Yes I did read Vera's - brilliant! Glad you thought mine worked, too. I thought it might be a little too sarcastic, so I'm pleased you liked it.

Bee

Submitted by Bee on

Oh, wow - cherries! Much tastier than bog roll! Thank you. 

Bee

Submitted by jeand on

Hi again Bee

Very clever and fun to read. 

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Bee on

Thanks Jean. Pleased you liked it.

Bee

Submitted by Starfish Girl on

Second reading and I'm still smiling smiley

Being a 'babe' myself I very much like the title. wink

Cherries very well deserved.

Lindy

Submitted by Bee on

Thanks babe!

Bee

Submitted by MJG on

Oh how often do I feel a bit of this at times......x

 

Submitted by Bee on

Thanks, MJG. 

Bee

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

' and the girls come easy and the drugs come cheap

and we'll all stay skinny cos we just won't eat!'    Nickleback - I wanna be a rock star

Bee, your poem shares the same bouncy irony as one of my favourite songs.

On a deeper note for people who have a real eating problem there is now over-eaters anonymous which I think makes more sense than slimming clubs as it starts off by recognising that over-eating can be an addiction rather than simply focussing on weight loss targets. When I was nineteen I had a nightmare year of the binge-diet cycle. Not anorexia and not sticking my fingers down my throat simply the all too common misery of 'sticking to my diet' of boiled egg on toast and grapefruit for a couple of days and then - wallop! 200g chocolate bar in my lunch break, two Dayvilles ice creams with chocolate fudge on my five mile walk home from the office to 'burn off some of the calories', then fish and chips before going in to my shared flat where I had opted out of the shared cooking rota 'because of my diet'.

The mad thing is I weighed slightly less than I do now and these days I am just about under my BMI limit.Still haven't got the problem completely beat      Elsie

Submitted by Bee on

You may be right, Elsie. Dieting might be a quick fix for the symptoms of underlying problems that lie at the heart of overheating. Over-eaters anonymous - does sound like a better option than weight-loss clubs. 

Thanks for reading, and for sharing your experience. I really appreciate your comments.

Bee

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

For me the obvious lure of wanting to be a size ten, hey wait a mo it was wanting to be a twelve, sizes were bigger then, was part of the problem. The problem started when I was seventeen, the age at which bodily growth naturally slows down and from being able to eat absolutely anything I liked as a non-eating disordered person it all changed for the worse. Leaving home and getting a live-in job as a kitchen assistant in a boarding school meant too that I could over-eat for nothing even before I got paid. Also I came from a very eating disordered family.

The 'quick fix' that helped me was going to uni on the Ucca clearing scheme as a slightly 'mature student' at least in age and in my day the government made it easy. (I swallowed my pride after 5 months and went home to do my second year of sixth form first and left home again and worked for another year) University did not cure everything but I had more to fill my mind and was now happy.

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I don't read or watch news anymore, but what filters through tends to be hung with skinny people (many of whom seem to have lost the faculty of smiling) and wonder-cures for couch and cake addiction. Just take a pill. Fantastic outpouring, Bee that captures the desperation of the whole thing. Isn't health the thing people should want for their bodies. If not, I can recommend an effective weight-loss plan. 2 weeks where I went, followed by a chip shop pie late on a Sunday. Seems to be working for me. Well done on the cherries, Bee. Brilliant!

Parson Thru

Submitted by Bee on

Hi PT. Thank you. You make some interesting points.

Bee

Submitted by VeraClark on

Hello Bee, this is really sharp and the rhyme softens the blow. There's undeniable perversity - not in eating disorder - but in society's suggestions for weight loss, as Parson cheerfully suggests. Canonette and I collaborate on a poetry site, we often start from similar inspiration points and themes, that's why we've been in woman's body mode. The next one's vagina. Gulp. 

Elsie, binge diets are a living nightmare. I could share some stories, but it'd put you off your boiled egg.

 

Submitted by Bee on

Hi Vera.

Glanced at your site and look forward to reading properly a bit later. You are right - there's so much pressure to conform, especially when young. 

Good luck with your next project. But 'vagina' and 'gulp' in the same sentence...?

Thanks for reading.

Bee

Submitted by RJF on

A really clever poem Bee and I loved the ending. R

 

Submitted by Bee on

Thank, R. Glad you liked the ending. 

Bee

Submitted by Denzella on

Hello Bee,

I thought this was a really clever take on a serious subject.  Witty yet thought provoking and I thought the use of repetition was effective as it brought the reader sharply back to the problem just in case they were lured into enjoying the poem for its wit alone.

I very much admire the clever way you have put this together.

Moya

 

Submitted by Bee on

Hi Moya. Thank you for reading, and for such lovely comments. 

Bee

Submitted by The royster on

Hi Bee,

So many great comments and an excellent piece on an unfortunate trait these young girls seem to be following.  Just seeing that Lucy Beale on Corrie is enough to make you think, Why on earth would you want to look like that?? Nothing beats the real feminine shape.   Great poem though and yet more Cherries. Well done    Roy

 

Submitted by Bee on

Thanks for taking the time to read, Roy, and for your comments.

Bee