Voices In My Head Poem by Rowan Truebody

The voices in my head are shouting, creating a cacophony
Vying for first place, louder and louder and louder
Like an orchestra building to a crescendo
Screaming, shouting “don’t do this, don’t do that”
“Be afraid” “Who do you think you are”

I shake my head to make them stop, they never do.
They constantly harass, unendingly harangue me
Like some incessant nagging shrew
Louder the volume – higher the pitch
Till all I hear is a screech and a scream

I think perhaps their desire is just to make me mad
With their disapproving snorts and derogatory thoughts
I tell them I’m not listening, but still they carry on
They don’t care if I’m not hearing, they chatter just the same

They’re always in the background, with their poisonous verbal strings
Telling me I shouldn’t, I mustn’t, I can’t, I daren’t
Wish I knew their origins and how to send them back
Their disapproving chatter is a soundtrack to my day

But sometimes on a starry night, or standing by the sea
There’s no voices in my head, then there’s only me
The voices rest so quietly, there’s not a single sound
Weird my friend it really is
It happens whenever you’re around!