Hi GLOCALs, my name is Cong Anh, but everybody in the program calls me by my nickname, Cat! To me, poetry is an engrossing and delightful hobby as it allows me to speak in terms that otherwise could not ever be expressed and let me escape to a calming garden of words. I have written poems in several languages, but I choose this one to be published by The GLOCAL Experience because I feel that as wanderers, we are bound to meet people that we inevitably compare ourselves to and face periods of uncertainty that seem to only feed into the excruciating little voices in our head. Insecurity, like a paper cut, is a poisonous jab; yet that itself is a universal experience shared by many. Through sharing the poem, I hope to remind us that in the end, regardless of how it turns out, we will always be enough and be deserving of love.
Insecurity
Insecurity
It smells like iron blood in the hot desert sand
It tastes like bitter melon with a hint of green jealousy
It sounds like that angry buzzing bee that you just cannot see
It feels like every part of you is not enough
It looks like you, and yet is it you?
Insecurity is uncomfortable, vexing,
and it’s real.
Insecurity
That one small mistake from years ago
That one body part deemed imperfect
That one trait that makes you nervous and act like a lunatic
That one deep fear multiply by three
That one time when you wish you weren’t here
That one person who just seems to be everything you are not.
Insecurity
Prey on you like a howling demon
Always there and always try to reason
Sleep you must, and yet sleep you cannot
Plague your dream and turn things to naught
Before, during, and after your speech
It’ll be your jury, and it’ll be your judge…
Insecurity
Best friends of overthinking
Mother of anxiety
It just keeps resurfacing, that damn thought
“They’re so successful, and nice, and hot”
Don’t be hard on yourself, people say
Well if I can stop, don’t you think I would?
Insecurity
To the loved one that I have not met
Please be kind and please do not be mad
When you see me crying, when I’m sad
I know I’ll get better, I want to
Cause it is you, I don’t wanna lose.
If I keep trying, maybe one day
I’ll succeed, and it will go away
Cause it is you, I don’t wanna lose.
But,
Even if it won’t
Will it be me you choose?
Nguyen Chau Cong Anh