“Swirling”, Lexy Russell ‘23

swirling

by Lexy Russell she/her ‘23

there’s a part of me that no one sees the part of me that’s stuck in-between the highs and the lows and the yeses and the nos but it never shows—and nobody knows.

and there’s a monster living in my head and there’s a monster living in my head lurking in darkness, he lls me with dread he creeps in my conscience he hides in my smile when my shoulders are tense sit and think for a while

making a creature of my thoughts a web of shoulds and “you should nots” swallowing me in time and space manipulates me out of place

and i can’t keep track of all the things they’re in there somewhere, down deep swirling