“Self-talk (a poem inverse)” (2022 Academic Skills Writing Contest)

This written piece was a winning submission (third place) for the 2022 Academic Skills Writing Contest. The 2022 theme was "potential."
April 12, 2022

By: David Vaz

I am not enough.

And I will never believe that

I can do anything.

It doesn’t matter to me

if I cure cancer.

if I win a Nobel Prize.

The feeling persists.

This sense of success:

Is meaningless.

In the moment

But inadequacy and self-hate

Glare at me in the bathroom mirror.

A façade of failures

Instead of

A senate of satisfaction.

“He gets the job done”

But think of all the people who said

I was outdone.

Of course.

Am I even supposed to be here?

(Now read it line-by-line from the bottom to the top)


About “Bated Breath”

This written piece was a winning submission (third place) for the 2022 Academic Skills Writing Contest. The 2022 theme was “potential.”

About the Academic Skills Writing Contest

The Academic Skills Writing Contest takes place in the winter term, usually between January and March.