Public Square

A bright chap and quite very awkward
He felt he owed a debt just for being
He seemed to keep to himself
In fear of harsh judgments
In fear of exposure
Of all his self-evident inadequacies
Fragilities and vulnerabilities
Of being humiliated by a social world. . .
It ranked higher than death
In things that he feared

Reviews

[Nipplegrinder]

Easily identifiable. Nicely done.

[Arya]

A very observant poem.At some stage in your life you face this fear and its difficult to overcome.Beautifully explained.

[Davidgeo]

Thank you for reading.

[Cherrie Palmer]

I think you will find many readers can identify with this

[Davidgeo]

People who write for sport tend to be agoraphobic or at least a little more neurotic more than your average citizen. I think, I don't really know. I don't get out much and am kind of maladjusted.

[Cherrie Palmer]

It wouldn't hurt you to lay the past to rest and start some new adventures to write about.

[Davidgeo]

Ugh, my original response was rooted in humor.... Let me be more clear, It's a poem about agoraphobia (agora = 'public square' in greek), not an account of my personal life. Do I really seem like a person averse to harsh judgments and open spaces? I obviously feed off that s**t.

Most of what I write is rooted in cognitive or social psychology. It's enjoyable for me to turn my knowledge of those subjects into a poetic form. I have no intention of moving on from that approach right now, there are plenty more adventures on that topic to write about.

Oh, and never tell someone you think is suffering from a major anxiety disorder to just "lay the past to rest and start some new adventures...". It's incredible insulting to them when relative strangers assume their condition is so simple to overcome. It betrays a profound lack of understanding. I'd feel extremely disrespected if this was actually something I suffered from.