Recipe for Disaster 101: How To Get Over It (Winner of Recipe Poem Contest)

by Isabella Thurman, ’26

November 25, 2024

Begin by waking up, starting your day… ignore the mascara lines underneath your eyes and the salt on your lips. Ignore the throbbing from your head and the ache in your stomach.
Make your bed. Neatly pack the corners of your covers on the edge of your mattress and move the pillows back into their original position… ignore the stain remaining on your pillow, ignore the stuffed animal and its eyes that beg for forgiveness.
Make breakfast: eggs, bagel, coffee… make them kindly and carefully, ignore the flavor of the coffee, the smell it leaves, and the memories it holds. Ignore the urge to check your phone.
Do something productive! Go for a run, go to the gym, work on yourself, be better, do better… don’t check your phone. Don’t… Ignore the urge to text, to check in… drown yourself in fun activities and music instead!
But, you should delete that playlist. And the note in your notes app. And throw out the perfume. And the stuffed animal. And the flowers. And the photos. And-
Have some water.
Breathe… in…2, 3… out…2, 3… in… 2…3… out… 2… 3…
Send that text- for closure, of course- you’ll get one last chance to explain your feelings and get this stage over with. Ignore the want to go back and the urge to say “I love you”… Ignore the text “come over”, ignore it, ignore it, ig-
Tell yourself that this is for closure- that you’re done. Ignore the fact that you come back, night after night, day after day… ignore that aching feeling in your stomach that it will end again. Ignore the feeling… ignore…
Repeat.