the lying banshee
a poem about how your brain lies to you sometimes
there’s a wailing banshee in my head
warning me of danger
she says it’s around the corner
so i tiptoe onto the train
and i tiptoe along the sidewalk
and i tiptoe through every room in my apartment
hoping the banshee will stop wailing
hoping she’ll tell me
i’m getting colder and colder
moving further from danger
and closer to safety
but she never stops
so i decide to take the risk
for both of us
i decide to run around the corner
to run towards the danger
as i get closer
the banshee gets louder and louder
more piercing, more forceful
terror-struck, i keep running
and when i finally reach the corner
ready to strike
i find
nothing, nothing.
x EVIE
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last day of National/Global Poetry Writing Month!!! Not going to lie, i started strong then missed a good week and a half of writing then came back to finish and this is the final poem. The prompt was from the NaPoWriMo website.
Prompt: try writing your own poem that discusses a real or mythical being or profession (demons, firefighters, demonic firefighters) with a sort of musing yet dispassionate tone.
Recently, i was diagnosed with OCD (the one that lives in your mind), panic disorder and a little itty bit of ptsd. I am struggling to accept that my brain could be lying to me! wth brain!! so this one came pouring out of me. it is not my brain that is lying but instead a banshee has possessed it and it is she who is the lying sob!!! and ofc i had to inject some bravery & courage so that i remember i’m not a helpless damsel! anyway, lmk what you think!
-E
