It may be as tough as mutton vindaloo to describe M.E but we can certainly give it a try – and it may even be cathartic to get those feelings written down, send a message to the world, give you a voice or make you feel good. So here’s my first two poems about having M.E / CFS – and if you’d like to submit yours to appear here too, get in touch!

Letter From My Future Self
by Jonathan Fitzgerald

Dear Past Me,
How do you do?
I know the answer to that,
Because I used to be you.

It’s me from the future.
What’s to come I have seen:
You’ll grow to be me,
ME – without that dot in between.

Dear Past Me,
Remember how you used to feel?
It’s coming back:
You’re going to heal.

Except this time it’s better,
Coz there’s so much you’ve learned:
I’m now mindful and positive,
A recovery earned.

Past Me – you CAN do it. You DO.
And soon you will be free.
M.E: Don’t listen to or be that.
Look to your future; be the true you. Be ME.

 

Me and M.E
by Jonathan Fitzgerald

Did you ever read the book, Flat Stanley,
About a boy who was totally flat?
He would lie there, floppy, with nothing inside…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Did you ever get sat on or pinned down,
By a brother or bully in combat?
You’d lie there, weighed down, unable to move…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Did you ever run and run and run as a child,
And fall into bed with a splat?
You’d lie there, exhausted, with legs just like jelly…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Did you ever have a moving toy,
Where the batteries were going flat?
It would lie there, slowing, listless then drained…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Did you ever get caught up in thick mist?
In my brain is where the fog’s at.
You lie there, overwhelmed and can’t think straight…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Did you ever wake up on a cold winter’s day
And need to hibernate or curl up like a cat?
You lie there, with no motivation to move…

Sometimes I feel like that.

Jaded, degraded and hazy.
But still me, not weak, not a doormat.
Please don’t think that I’m lazy,

When I don’t always feel like that.

I’m me, I’m M.E, that is me.
And today I’ll hide under my hat.
But tomorrow I hope I’m recharged and happy,

I always want to feel like that.

 

Advertisement