Kirstie Sivapalan
The Kings Library at the British Library, one of my sacred spaces. Photo: K Sivapalan 2018 Free to use I wrote the poem below twelve days ago now. People with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) will recognise the play on a familiar term we use in my title - PEM, which is short for Post-Exertional Malaise. This… Continue reading P/o/EM
(This is the second part of three of my story of M.E. If you haven’t yet, I’d recommend you read part one here) 2nd Edit: Oops. I managed to forget a very significant event in my life, or maybe block it out, due to my desire to finish this piece and rest. I've added it now.… Continue reading M.E and the virus that went away…for a while… (maybe)
I was just starting to stir this morning. Not quite asleep, not quite awake, lying in the world in between. I felt nothing. No pain, no tiredness, for a moment I thought I had recovered and allowed space to entertain the feeling. But I took a breath and time moved on and it all came… Continue reading If only
"No poly. I feel like a bag of shit. Didn't surface until afternoon. Can hardly eat. Can hardly move my eyes." This was an entry in my diary, one of those five-year diaries mainly girls of my day would be gifted for Christmases or birthdays. In my case it was my 14th Christmas, an idea… Continue reading M.E & The Virus that never leaves
I am going through some old poems and revising a few, which is as much as I can muster right now mid-relapse. I wrote this one two years ago when I thought I was having a bad day. Perspective can be a wonderful thing and it can also be brutal as I look back today… Continue reading Ode to a Bad Day #2
New poem for ME Awareness Month 2021. I wanted to write something that reflects the frustration of being dismissed, ignored & gaslighted because we cannot be "good productive members" of a consumerist economy. Seems apt to post this on International Workers Day too. For more information on living with M.E or caring for someone with… Continue reading Defective
No poem or funny story for you. Just some thoughts and a plan... It's been a difficult week Less By Thursday the combination of the confirmation of that individual as leader of the Conservative Party, which supposedly makes him my PM, the way above average or even peak temperature that day and M.E symptoms were… Continue reading Only love
I might as well live in Timbuktu As far as I am - from me to you. I might as well live in San Salvador Confined to sofas and stuck indoors. I might as well live in Kaula Lumpur Dreaming of dancing away til four, Or even til two, but now, I might as well… Continue reading Less travelled
You can gather from the title today is not a good day. Yesterday wasn't great either but today, has definitely been what those of us with mild-moderate M.E call a Bad Day. I wanted to write today. I also wanted to do some housework. I wanted to go to the library and maybe stop off… Continue reading Ode to a Bad Day
I wrote this poem after texting my husband to pick up some milk. It occurred to me that there are relationships everywhere that at some point one will send this message to the other. I then reflected on what that request meant to me in my relationship and realised it's depth. Hidden in this mundane… Continue reading The carer’s career
Writing and M.E. 