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  • The Paris Review

    Poetry Rx: There Is a Line That Could Make You Love Me Really

    by Kaveh Akbar Jul 26, 2018 6 minutes

    In our column Poetry Rx, readers write in with a specific emotion, and our resident poets—Sarah Kay, Kaveh Akbar, and Claire Schwartz—take turns prescribing the perfect poems to match. This week, Kaveh Akbar is on the line.

    © Ellis Rosen

    Dear Poets,

    My little sister is in the throes of an eating disorder. She is quite literally wasting away in front of me, and she has always looked to me for advice. I feel like I should be able to be supportive and strong for her, especially since I have been dealing with an eating disorder for more than five years now, but I find myself obsessing even more over my own issues and am a little afraid to spend time with her. Is there any poetic advice that might give me courage to help my sister fight back the same demons that threaten me?

    Sincerely,
    Skinny and Scared

    Dear S & S,

    I want to begin by saying that if you or anyone is” is a fugue of searing language, a speaker’s meditation on compulsion, embodiment, and hunger. One section reads: 

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