Too much Oestrogen in my blood,

or a simple matter of genetics;

it is the only way I can explain

the osteoporosis that has lurked in my bones,

stolen my strength,

since I was a teenager and where I had to fight

against prejudice because of my age

and my gender.

Too many times I had to endure

the words that suggested happily

that it was all in my head,

that the disease of black discs

was nothing more than teenage attention…

…so I pushed myself harder, I tore at every fibre