NaPoWriMo Day 15: My monologue

Our prompt for today (optional, as always), takes its inspiration from the idea of a poem as a sort of tiny play, which can be performed dramatically. In the 1800s, there was quite a fad for monologue-style poems that lend themselves extremely well to dramatic interpretations (this kind of work was basically Robert Browning’s jam). And Shakespeare’s plays are chock-a-block with them. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your own dramatic monologue. It doesn’t have to be quite as serious as Browning or Shakespeare, of course, but try to create a sort of specific voice or character that can act as the “speaker” of your poem, and that could be acted by someone reciting the poem.

My monologue



I think I’m treading the same path, again-

Self-sabotage.

How can I forget what it did to me last time?

Drifting into the world of solitude,

Paving the way for anxiety,

And finally erecting a fence around myself,

So robust that it barred everyone

It took me days to understand that I had ravaged my life,

And months to pull myself out of that runnel





Then why have I started to abuse myself again?

Emotional abuse, is what I think it is

Why am I feeling so pessimistic about everything?

Why have my expectations from self ascended?

Why do I want everything to be perfect?

Why do I feel I don’t deserve good things?

Why am I shying away from love?

Why do I feel no one understands me?

Why can’t I fathom myself in steady relations?






Have I really been a failure?

Is there no coming back?

Or is it just my thoughts that are causing this havoc?

I really don’t want to slip away into darkness

I’ve been there once; I know how daunting it is

Can someone prevent me from losing myself again?

But shall I really wait for someone to bail me out?

Or shall I continue to seek my own answers?

O Lord! Can my mind stop questioning?





I think I’ve had enough,

I need to end this soliloquy

I should let my heart sing,

I too deserve a chunk of love

I must let my brain respite,

I am tired of this constant dialogue

Should I, and I shouldn’t; Can I, and I can’t

My life was always moulded by these questions

I now must live without queries and replies

I now must save myself from self!



                                             ©Vandana Bhasin
                                                  15.04.2019