Take up space

Some of us live with a harsh inner critic who provides a running commentary on how terrible we are and what a mess we are making of life. We would never say those things to anyone else, and if we heard someone speaking that way to their child or friend we would intervene because it’s so cruel. But somehow we listen and allow those words to inhabit our souls. 

At times, over the years, that inner voice has been very dominant for me and at other times I have learned to interact with it more constructively and its power has lessened. I have found it so helpful to write down what it says and to interrogate those words – is that really true?

A reverse poem expresses one view if you read it from the beginning, and a very different one if you start at the end and read backwards. Brian Bilston’s Refugees poem is a well known example. 

I wrote this reverse poem in response to the Flip the Script exercise in Jonny’s book, Fringe Dweller, and performed it at Greenbelt last weekend where it seemed to find a lot of resonance. And I know you can read upwards and I don’t need to include the reverse version, but I don’t want the inner critic to have the last word. 

No one likes you
Don’t believe that
when you walk into a room
People are pleased to see you
You’re boring and have nothing to say
so don’t think that
you’re surrounded by love
People don’t want to talk to you
and it’s a mistake to think
you have a place here
Retreat to the edges and keep quiet
They don’t want you to
Take up space.

Flip the script…

Take up space
They don’t want you to
retreat to the edges and keep quiet
You have a place here
and it’s a mistake to think
people don’t want to talk to you
You’re surrounded by love
so don’t think that
you’re boring and have nothing to say
People are pleased to see you
when you walk into a room
Don’t believe that
no one likes you.

(photo of the full moon at Greenbelt 2026)