Anxiety

A poem about my struggle with anxiety and past lover

There is a rush of water
As there is a will to weep

In my mind I will ponder
All of the stories that you keep

The water threatens, it tightens
Choking me with self doubt

From your point of view it lightens
You can't even see the spout

I look to you my eyes pleading
Willing you to come

But you turn away not reading
You've let the water won

There is a rush of water
As there is a will to weep

All of my words are now captured
Because you never let me speak

I swallow them, hide them, bury them
But still they continue to thrive

They want to pour out and stretch over miles to whisper to you my demise

Would you shed tears, would you run, would you brighten
upon hearing my name?

Or would you sneer, would you scowl, would you frighten
pushing me even further away

There is a rush of water
As there is a will to weep

The memories are my cinema
The stories I will keep

The water threatens, it tightens
Choking me with self doubt

But the funeral will not yet happen
For my resurrection has come about

Author's Note

Not quite sure how this site works yet...

Reviews

[Kenny Bellamy]

I like the back and forth in lines 1-18, its indicative of the title, it has some beautiful rhythm hiding the 'on the nose' sort of exact abcb rhyme. That bit makes me hungry for some punctuation however. Its consistent that there are no periods in the poem, specifically at the ends of couplets so upon second reading I get that those couplets are complete ideas but I would be aided greatly with more solid punctuation. Second half changes pretty hard whilst sounding very similar to 1-18. There's a more hopeful turn which I think is important to this idea of anxiety, the obligatory enemy to teens/young adults, our kind of people. I like your sound MJW, keep up the writing.

[brownie2109]

I love the metaphor of the water in this poem, how controlling anxiety is like controlling a ton of water. The imagery in this is captivating, and the end with the resurrection showing overcoming it. Fantastic!

[MJW]

Thank you so much, it means a lot! Glad you enjoyed it(: