Journey Through Addiction and Back

I once was the perfect example of how easily
into peer pressure you can be sucked into,
which led to that first drink, which led to many more,
first from the glass and then the whole bottle.
Which led to that first high,

which led to many more, first from a pipe
then to the sniffs and swallows.
It’s the flick of the switch of the high that kept me going.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Then just like that, I quit cold turkey, when the high was getting low.
But now twenty-one years sober and clean,
I’m sorting out the feelings and emotions
that have been washed ashore.

When I was ten, when I was told I was fat,
which led to me parachuting into the jungle of an eating disorder,
that swung between anorexic and bulimia.
Where the fear of eating led me to purging and binge eating.
Where just the thought of eating felt disgusting,
where the thought of eating, felt so foreign
because I lived on reserves and adrenaline, after hours at the gym.
When the fear of eating was terrifying
and anxiety rocketed to the sky.
Nobody asked why.

When I was thirteen, I started self-harming to deal with pain,
and nobody knew
for keeping strong and ploughing through
was what I had been taught to do.
The scars run deep from skin to soul, but now I know that self-abuse
is of no use,
for words have power
and asking for help was a boat I could row.

By: Karin Reimondos

Karin Reimondos is a freelance photographer, writer, and horse breeder based in Sweden. Her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in Poet’s Choice anthologies, including Words That Heal and My Life, My Choices. Her photography has been featured in Fusion Art, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, and Beyond Words Magazine. Her debut poetry collection, Baby Steps Towards Acceptance, was published in June 2025. Her forthcoming works, the poetry collection Shelter and a young adult novel, are scheduled for release in winter 2025/2026. Her photography is shared on social media under Humble Moments Photography and The Happy Household.