I Let the Paintings Hang
I needed to hide
within the working world
until I was ready
to become a therapist –
until my social anxiety
dissipated somehow.
I think AI does a better job now.
What’s left
are the surrealist paintings
I thought were holding me back
from living
in the concrete world.
Survival won’t be material
for much longer.
And how can we survive
without ourselves?
Now, I let the paintings hang,
for as long as they remain.
Julia Douglas-Mann is based in Devon, UK. Her poetry explores mental health, spiritual experience, embodiment, ecology, and connection. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Edge of Humanity Magazine, Pure Haiku, and The Machinery Magazine.
