by La Shawna Griffith
Let me tell you a story of how this E took away my freedom,
And no, this E is not ecstasy
It does not make me feel happy
Frankly…
It makes me feel horrible!
This E bears a pain indescribable
Only cooled by morphine drips
And liquid morphine sips
Because this E is a villain
This E first snuck into my world around the age of 13,
And I didn’t know of this disease but it certainly knew how to affect my body,
The vomiting, the diarrhoea, the clots,
And the question parents asked was;
“ You sure you ain’t pregnant?”
I wish I could be,
But yah see this E takes away your fertility,
And don’t care how much seamoss my boyfriend drinks his chances of conceiving a baby with me are slim.
Because this E stole my freedom.
This E is called endometriosis and it is a disease that affects 1 in 10 women,
But we don’t talk about it,
This disease that affects your body, mind and relationships,
Not only romantic relationships but work relationships
Having to call HR and explain to them why you can’t physically come into work today because once again E has held you hostage and you can’t get off the bed because of the pain.
Let’s flip the script,
And talk about all your favorite foods,
Ah.. You tuned back in to this poem!
Well remember that pork chop you liked to sink your teeth in from Freddy’s-E took that
Remember how you didn’t really like veggies,
Well E renewed your motivation.
Because veggies help your condition,
Veggies help you teach E a useful lesson.
Let us go back to talking about E that nasty bloody villain.
I wish I could stand here and say that E made me squeal
As he was the best thing that ever happened to me,
And he made me go ecstatic,
Made my elastic heart sing from the rooftops-
But this E
All he did was give me pain and misery,
Scars and pills,
Pills and potions,
Changed my life.
I mean I tried to fight
I really did but E is like a thief in the night that steals all your jewelry.
E is like a Brock Lesnar and you are just a Stardust,
Dusting the beating off your suit
E is the disease that affects one in 10 in the world but still he is one of the sneakiest people to enter your life as not even doctors know why he comes into your life and causes havoc.
That E is called Endometriosis,
And it is time we speak up-
To let other women be aware of how E can sneak into their lives and change it forever.
(La Shawna is a 24 year old Political Science BSc. Graduate from the University of the West Indies. She is one of the youngest published authors in Barbados and truly believes in writing work that inspires change. Her greatest role model is Maya Angelou and also seeks to become a poet laureate in her literary career. She loves music and enjoys nice long walks on the beach.)