Everynight I feel an irresistible urge to scream.

After a long day of staying silent, I go home and want to scream.

My screams would be that of a Banshee; thunderous and piercing.

For the sake of others, I remain silent.

I swallow my roars and hide them far within the maze of my stomach.

The silence is unbearable.

It’s unfair.

Why is it okay for the rest of the world to roar,

but it is unacceptable if I roar?

Everyday I swallow my screams, while I am forced to sit and listen to the rest of the world scream.

I walk down the street; I get screamed at.

I walk into my house; I get screamed at.

I walk into the school house, and I get screamed at.

I sit and bear with the rest of the world screaming into my head

OH, but if I SCREAMED BACK?

I would be called “dramatic,” “over reactive”, “TOO LOUD.”

It is unfair that I am willed to swallow my roars,

that I am willed to sit in silence and just take it.

The silence is louder than the thunderous roars of the Banshee that lives in my head.

The silence is unbearable.

- Willow Jarocki