𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬

The Voice

There's a devil inside my head
Who whispers worries
A serpent crawling inside my mind
Saying things that aren't true
And twisting things so they're bigger than they are

Kids laugh in the halls
And the voice says "They're laughing at you"
Kids whisper in class
And it says "They're talking about you"
But the voice's favorite words are
"You're annoying, no one likes you."

"You can't turn in your test first," it says, "wait for someone else"
"Don't draw too much attention"
And "They're watching your every move"
But its favorite thing to tell me is
"You're annoying, no one likes you"

It keeps me up at night, buzzing in my ear
Like that mosquito in your room that you just can't seem to catch
"Why did you do this? Why didn't you do that?"
"Remember that stupid thing you did 5 years ago?"
"Do your friends really care?"
"You're annoying, no one likes you"

And somedays it grows
Until all I can hear is
"You're annoying, no one likes you"
"No one likes you"
"No one likes you"
"No one likes you"

The voice's name is Social Anxiety
The things it says aren't true
And its favorite words are
"You're annoying, no one likes you"
January 2023

I wrote this for our poetry unit in my English class, our theme was "Identity"