ALS NaPoWriMo Day 28: Write a poem that either details your self-doubt or helps you overcome it.

 

Poem: I Walk On

 

It quietly creeps in.

As if the small child hidden inside me

is peeking from behind the door–

The door of my subconsciousness

 

“Will you be able to do it?

“Should you be doing it?

“Are you on the right path?”

“Can you walk alone?”

 

It startles me now and then

Shuddering my balance with umpteen questions

Sometimes distrusting my skills

At others, like a moral compass

 

It cripples me with fear–

known, unknown.

Destabilising me,

it unnerves me to the core

 

I start quilling a conundrum around me

Like a spider fabricating its own web,

Not as its home for comfort,

But a maze to get disoriented and puzzled

 

My flaws, inadequacies, inabilities, inefficiencies,

anger, resentment, shame, guilt–

All queue up for the sprint hosted by my mind

Worthless and helpless, I feel, when self-doubt consumes me

 

Sometimes it wins,

I get distressed; I fumble and retract

I repeat after it, “It’s not meant for me;

This is not who I am; I can’t do it.”

 

But sometimes, I confront it,

I retaliate and counter-question it

It cannot withstand my stance then,

Once I acknowledge its presence, it flees!

 

I look at myself in the mirror–bold, assertive, poised

“I may not be perfect, but I am enough;

It may be a new challenge, but I’m willing to take it!”

I reassure myself, and I walk on!

 

 

©Vandana Bhasin

28.04.2026