The image is in three vertical panels and shows an ink drawing of a woman with wings falling down - she has crashed. The second panel shows her from behind with blood between her shoulder blades with the words ‘it feels as if my wings have been torn off’. The final panel is a real feather with blood at its tip.

I drew this while lying down in bed during a ME/CFS relapse and Fibromyalgia flare-up that has seen me housebound and sometimes bedridden. It describes the location of some of the pain in my body and how sore it feels. The image also embodies my sense of feeling trapped as a result of my disability, and of having my potential and freedom thwarted. I had the feather to hand because my husband brings me items from outside: The use of a found object is symbolic of my being housebound and detached from the natural world. It also represents a disconnect from the life I’d rather be leading if I were well enough. The image is visceral and disturbing, and it reflects the distressing and very physical symptoms I can experience.

  • by Paula Knight

Paula Knight’s website

Paul’s Knight’s poetry

Paula Knight’s site ‘Chronic Creations’

Twitter: @Paula_JKnight

Instagram: @paukajkstudio

 

UK