Allodoxaphobia

Other people’s thoughts scare me more

than any creature in a horror film.

Judgement looms over me like a vulture,

ready to tear into my insecurities like rotting flesh.

I fill their minds with my own anxiety,

speaking for them before they can ever mutter a word.

The doorway seems like portal to my nightmares,

where voices can mutter their opinions freely and I can’t stop them.

Out there are judgement and debate,

views and convictions that could all seer away any semblance of self esteem I have left.

I stay inside, still unable to hide from my own judgements.