I was too scared to use my voice
I was afraid of being heard
But I knew I had a choice
To share this my written word
What if you get online hate?
What if you receive abuse?
That’s a risk I’m willing to take,
To put these words to good use
Yet I waited for too long
To finally share my first post.
Just in case something went wrong,
Or what I then was scared of most:
What if no-one reads or cares?
What if they think I’m a joke?
The thought sent me into despair
Being afraid of other folk
What if then nobody likes me?
Will they notice I exist?
Will they see my poetry,
Or is it lost to the abyss?
What if the text is too long?
Will anybody read it all?
For although my words are strong,
I’m weaker with the visual.
The only way to know for sure
Is to go and try it out
Keeping my words true and pure
Let’s see what this world’s all about
Mairi Wallace
One of my first public poems on Instagram @mairipoetry
Starting out on this journey of making my poetry public, I found myself almost equally anxious about people’s reactions and getting no reactions. So to relieve some of these feelings, I will not put pressure on myself and will simply give this a go.