Karina Ten

Karina Ten (she/her) is a queer and neurodivergent poet from Kazakhstan, currently in her fifth year of medicine in Milan, Italy. Drawing from personal experience, her poems explore themes of mental health, grief, and belonging. Her work is forthcoming or has appeared in Maudlin House, Call Me [Brackets], and Mouthful of Salt.

Easy read of the poems in the images above:

Even My Fingers Are Fat

CW: anorexia nervosa, disordered eating

I’ve covered the mirrors, holding a funeral
for the versions of me that once were.

The scale lies once again, laughing at me,
thinking I will not notice how
it subtracted ten extra pounds in one week
from my actual weight.
I throw it out.

I pass by a window. It’s mockingly
reflecting my real size.
The models at school are openly
laughing at my pitiful tries.

I look at my elephant legs,
and even my fingers are fat.
My feet are so big,
my feet are so thick
that I can barely stand.

The doctor said something about
installing a tube through my nose.
I started running, got lost in the crowd,
I keep running away,
and I doze.