Anxiety’s Lies
by Elizabeth Houseman
ANXIETY’S LIES
I was a child when I learned
That anxiety lies,
When I sobbed in the shower
Convinced we would lose
My baby brother, and then
Adopted him eight months later
To my utter surprise.
It turned out my heart had lied
And my mind had been in the wrong.
I am an adult now
As I whisper a shuddered prayer
For the child in my home
Who I fear I won’t be able to keep.
But I am hoping
That this “gut feeling”
Is the same anxiety I felt,
The same false narrative I believed,
As a child
When I sobbed in the shower,
Believing the worst
When the best was in store.
ELIZABETH HOUSEMAN
Elizabeth Houseman is a reader, writer, Christian, and wife, living in coldhearted Michigan. She has work featured in La Piccioletta Barca, Critical Read, & elsewhere. When she isn’t obsessively writing, she works as a freelance photographer. You can find her on Instagram at @bethyhouseman.