Elizebeth Turnquist

I’m trying not to blame you

For not understanding me

I try to provide metaphors

To explain lived experience

Of life with chronic illness

Because my simple words

Are dismissed as complaints

As if we all have the same life

But we are not the same

When I speak of fatigue

I’m not talking about needing sleep

I’m talking about a lack of recovery

I’m talking about limited energy

That sleep doesn’t refresh

You translate this into your experience

That life is tiring and overwhelming

You belittle through ignorance

I don’t have the energy

To waste being mad at you.