A bad stomach I’ve had
With pain and bloating
So uncomfortable
It’s pulled me down.

I looked for the reasons
Is it something I ate?
Or more likely
Something I’m thinking.

I’ve overdone it again
Conveniently forgetting
My energy levels
Are limiting.

I get carried away
Book this in and that
And before I know it
My diary’s full,
Deadlines loom 
And my nervous system
Can’t cope.

So, illness jumps in
Often my eyes
But this time my stomach
Something I’m just 
Not digesting.

I look back over
The last few days
And realise
How busy I’ve been,
How much I’ve done,
And achieved,
But at what cost to me?

Two days I’ve lost
As my body recovers
And I process
My thoughts
And my feelings.

I went on a date
And over-ate
And I think it disturbed me
Some way.

A reminder maybe
Of what is missing
That loving relationship
Safe and secure
Of the end of the book
And the loss of Gaban

A bend in the road
Choices to make
My diet went haywire
Hence the stomach-ache.

As I honour the past 
And digest the now
I face new beginnings
Braver somehow.

I needed to stop
Take stock and breathe
Two days to do this
My body gave me.

© Gill Tembo August 2019