Radox and Recovery

Kat Outten

Kat Outten (they/them) is an artist and writer from England, UK. Their work explores their lived experiences of queerness, being fat, disability, and neurodivergence, and their working-class background through their artistic practice and the written word.

Instagram: @katouttahere

Radox and Recovery

Nostalgia is half a bottle of Radox

And the sound of The Smiths

I know it’s cliché

This joke isn’t funny anymore

The flamingo shower curtain won’t hide

The mold on these walls

The bubbles can’t conceal

This body of mine

Drinking orange lucozade at ten pm

But the fizz finds me flat

My bathwater spills

I’m sinking below the waterline

If this moldy bathroom is my world

What exists outside of this room I can’t comprehend

Just the smell of anti dandruff shampoo

And taste of fake orange juice

That’s the thing about recovery

They never tell you it’s this hard

People package it up

All the yoga and long baths

Can’t replace the packets of pills

And work

I haven’t brushed my teeth or hair today

But I’m having a bath so I must be okay

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