The featured poem for this week is “Anxiety” by Kelsey Boudreaux. This is actually Kelsey’s second poem to be published in The Activist. Her first was “Shattered”, which you can read here.
Everyone deals with some sort of anxiety. It can occur before you perform in front of an audience or while you are worrying about what grade you are going to get on a test. It can even happen out of nowhere for no apparent reason at all. Kelsey’s poem is all about capturing what that feeling is like, as well as encouraging people to not let their anxiety get them down.
Anxiety by Kelsey Boudreaux
The voice in your head
Making you feel dread
Even when there is nothing to be worried about
Anxiety’s voice is hard to block out
Especially when it turns your fight or flight response on
Making you it’s pawn
As you begin to tremble now caught in anxiety’s grip
Fighting for ownership
Of your body and state of mind
Trying to unwind
The stress
Trying to process
The what
Which isn’t always clear cut
Giving anxiety the upper hand
Making you withstand
Your racing heart
Your emotions making you fall apart
The battle of catching your breath
The anxiety has attacked giving you false fear of death
By anxiety attack
Your emotions racked
Finally, anxiety loosened its grasp
For now, because you know anxiety is not something you can outlast
Your anxiety will always be perched on your shoulder
Waiting for the opportunity to be the controller
Of your thoughts all it takes is one thought
To get caught
In anxieties trap
But know that anxiety’s attacks are only temporary
Don’t let your anxiety make you be in the constant state of wary
The Author
Kelsey Boudreaux is a freshman majoring in social work.
Make sure to check back soon for more great works of student writing. If you want to see all of the Featured Literature publications, click here.
Are you interested in writing your own creative literature or seeing the written works of others? The UCBA Creative Writing Club welcomes any and all UC Blue Ash students who are interested in pursuing artistic writing in many genres. Meetings are held every Tuesday in Muntz 322 from 4-5pm and are open to all students.