giving a fictional character a voice.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a short story that profoundly impacted me. I became obsessed with it after reading it. It has such a strong feminist backing to it. I chose it for this exercise because I liked how obscure and mad it became.

creeping and crawling,
crawling and creeping,
in and out of the wallpaper,
in and out of my mind.

my husband, you never heard my voice.
tired and sad? try silent and mad!
the only escape I ever had
was through my pen and paper.

and in my words I would scream and shout,
shout and scream;
in and out of the wallpaper,
in and out of my mind.

out and in.

Lover, do you hear me now?
because I’m clearing my throat
(spreading my wings)
and stepping out of this dingy yellow wallpaper.

stepping out, stepping over you.
husband of mine, why are you on the floor?
your eyes are cold and you look so unsure.
I’ll walk right over you.
at least I have the courtesy not to step on you.

it nearly cracked my ribs each time you did that.
sweet little husband of mine,
rest easy on this floor.
I have finally escaped.

and if you loved me evermore,
you would let me run free.
in and out.
out and in.
of my mind.