A Voice in Your Head - Nov 13 2022

 

A Voice in Your Head

Nov 13 2022

Hard to know

where the writing comes from.

You sit in your comfortable chair,

adjust the light,

select a favourite pen;

black ink

easy-gliding nub

good heft.

You need quiet

and write best at night.

The paper's unlined;

because you hate feeling confined,

and all the cross-outs and corrections

will leave a mess of palimpsest,

long snaky arrows

connecting the dots.

Then, it's like taking dictation;

a voice in your head

from who knows where.

Past lives?

The muse

only you can hear?

Your subconscious self

whispering in one ear?

Something you read.

Stuff someone told you

happened to them.

What you may have observed

or overheard,

at least imagine you did.

Stream of consciousness.

Whimsy, enchantment

and flights of fancy.

Clever twists of plot

you follow more than plan.

One word at a time

faithfully inscribed

in your own peculiar shorthand.

But always doubting and insecure,

unsure

if it's going anywhere,

will be any good,

reveal something

you'd rather keep to yourself.

So, is it your voice

or are you simply recording?

Is all you really are

just a good stenographer,

who listens well

and tries not to get the way?