Whenever she writes, she must
Do as Virginia Woolf once told her—
She must take up the pen and
Kill the angel in the house.
But what comes next? Once the
Angel is defeated, there is no rest.
Then comes the onslaught;
The phantoms more sinister
And tactile. The self-doubt,
The self-loathing, and the
Self-pity are flanked on all sides
By the fears she cannot escape—
The knowledge that she will bring
Disappointment to a mother,
Heartache to a father, and
Shame to a family with
The words she puts to paper.
But, perhaps more frightening,
Is the insurmountable truth
That no matter what she writes
She cannot force a parent to love,
Nor a relationship to heal.
Nevertheless, she draws her sword—
And remembers that ultimately,
The pen is far mightier.
-Katherine Widner
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