Burnt-out but not Washed-up

A Poem about Recovery

Burnt-out but not Washed-up

For many years I did believe
Medicine, was all I could achieve
So when required to take ‘shore leave’
I found myself begin to grieve

My fragile self-esteem was blown
Denied self-worth, I felt alone
Adrift beyond my comfort zone
A future in a world unknown

Ashamed I tried to hide away
Afraid of what the world would say
Filled with anger and dismay
My self-imposed, self-judgement day

And then with time a change began
Less worried, still without a plan
First I walked and then I ran
Paddling before I swam

I slept, I read, I cooked and ate
Gaining confidence and weight
No longer feeling second rate
Rejecting fear, cut off self-hate

A long suppressed creative side
My work and studies had denied
A part of me I thought had died
Returned and helped restore my pride

As before, if you have any thoughts or questions, or even a thank you to the author for sharing her poem, please do comment below. It takes a huge amount of courage to share something like this. (You will need to sign in here to do so if you don’t already have a WordPress account).