Poetry by Kelsey Coletta
My Therapist Says Recovery is a Process
I’m not hungry but I smile when my husband looks and I gently dip a fork into boiling water, stirring noodles for a cheap and easy meal because I’m better now. I don’t tell him that sometimes my reflection burns and I hate the way I can’t feel my hip bones anymore and I try to make sure he never sees me cry but maybe I can tell him I’m fine because I’m better now. I’m making pasta, preparing to pile on sodium and calories but I promise it doesn’t bother me because better is an adjective I can use to describe myself. The monster in my brain is a whisper, not a scream. I tell myself this and if I believe it then he’ll believe it and I stir and stir and stir.
Kelsey Coletta is a Rhode Island based licensed clinical therapist. She is a graduate of both Rhode Island College and Simmons University. She lives in Johnston, RI with her husband and their two dogs and two cats. Her work has appeared in You Might Need to Hear This, Hawai'i Pacific Review and TPT Magazine.