Torment- A poem about living with OCD

by Victoria Tucker
30th June 2014

My mind is conspiring against me

It is a daily battle

One I must face alone

My mind she taunts me

Making me doubt myself

I am trapped by her

She questions my every move

Until she drives me to the brink of madness

Like a petulant child

I call to my inner wise woman

In a bid to calm her tantrums

At times she prevails

The child is hushed now

But I know this is only a lull

Before the impending storm that threatens to rage

Comments

Thanks for the feedback Alice. This one was definitely from the heart! I really like your idea of repetition of certain lines/words, and agree this would reflect nicely the vicious cycle you sometimes find yourself in with OCD. :)

Profile picture for user vickituc_27698
Victoria
Tucker
270 points
Developing your craft
Poetry
Short stories
Fiction
Comic
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Speculative Fiction
Adventure
Historical
Gothic and Horror
Romance
Victoria Tucker
01/07/2014

Thanks for the feedback, glad you liked the poem. I didn't set out not to use punctuation, I'm just really bad at it! :)

Good luck with yours :)

Profile picture for user vickituc_27698
Victoria
Tucker
270 points
Developing your craft
Poetry
Short stories
Fiction
Comic
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Speculative Fiction
Adventure
Historical
Gothic and Horror
Romance
Victoria Tucker
01/07/2014

Hi Victoria,

I love the opening line! It has a lovely rhythm to it as well as being really unusual.

The only thought I had was that, as this is a poem, you could perhaps use form to your advantage. There are various types of poems, such as sestinas and villanelles, whose structure relies upon repeating certain lines or words. The effect created is almost hypnotic, very cycling and obsessive, which could reflect the idea of OCD really well. That might be too laboured, though - I know that many poets when writing about issues close to them or that have affected them personally prefer to write 'from the heart', rather than worrying about form too much.

Profile picture for user alice@ca_26344
Alice
Cattley
330 points
Starting out
Poetry
Short stories
Fiction
Alice Cattley
01/07/2014