Monster

[worn shale]

The other day, My therapist asked me to draw what I think of the devil. I handed her the paper, she stared at it, confused. It was a poorly doodled sketch of myself.

“Do you think you’re evil?” She asked.

“Not exactly.” I explain. “I feel like her sometimes. She had angel wings, she was right close to God yet she still chose to fall. I do that everyday, I know God is there but I choose to turn away.”

She nodded. “So when you think of the devil, what one word would you use to describe her?”

“The same word I use to describe myself-Ugly” I reply.

She then asked me to draw something ugly. I knew she’d be annoyed If I drew another portrait of myself, so I drew a monster instead.

“Why do you think the monster is ugly?” she asked.

I dove into my thoughts. “Viewers perception of him” I say.

She nodded again. “So maybe…You see this monster, or yourself, as ugly not because you are—but because thats how you’ve been taught to see yourself as.”

[peak escarp]

Dove instead of “dived”

[worn shale]

dived is also a past tense word

but i guess dove fits more

[peak escarp]

While this is true, its far less common and less pleasant to read, personally speaking but it’s just initial grammatical feedback

[worn shale]

yes yes i get where you’re coming from

[peak escarp]

This sort of reads like a screenplay of sorts, with it being demarcated line by line as one would see in a script, not sure if this is what you were going for.. could a small prose poem fit this idea better? Is there a way to turn this into more of a traditional rhyme? Or is it actually part of a script/screenplay? also if you have specific questions about it feel free to let me know

[worn shale]

honestly, I wrote it more like in a free verse mode I couldn’t think of any genre which I could fit this prompt into ykwim. It actually wasn’t supposed to look like a part of a script😭 maybe I couldn’t deliver it properly.

[peak escarp]

It sort of follows a call-and-response format, with you being interviewed by your therapist. You could format this into a prose or stream of consciousness by removing the personhood of the therapist so it just becomes an ownerless conversation of sorts. Does this make any sense?

[worn shale]

Maybe it was meant to be a prose

[worn shale]

It made sense then it didn’t 💔 But I kind of get what you’re saying

I does seem more like a screen play

[peak escarp]

The potential of the subject matter is not poor: how we wrestle with our self -perceptions and how we relate to evil, however I would say that if accuracy in the biblical sense is important, satan was described as male in both the text and in traditional Christianity. My advice is to just sit with these thoughts for a while and see what you can come up with because It’s an important internal conversation that everyone has

[slate schooner]

Wonderful! @peak escarp has just pregressed to level 1!

[worn shale]

I mean for me satan seems more like a her than a him

but then again

“viewer’s perception”

[peak escarp]

That’s fair, but it’s definitely an artistic choice since Satan - a legitimate biblical character, is described as male in Christianity. It’s a small detail that doesn’t necessarily weigh the piece down. Just saying how that is going to come across

[worn shale]

I wish I had the patience and one thought at a time to actually think it thru and come up with something else

[peak escarp]

“Great poetry is great patience”

[worn shale]

Patience and me go like oil and water

[peak escarp]

It’s a tree that needs to be cultivated. Perhaps you are still working on finding the right soil to plant the seed.

Keep at it though!

[worn shale]

maybe getting patience ruins the personality I made💔

[slate schooner]

Wonderful! @worn shale has just pregressed to level 3!

[worn shale]

but I appreciate the help!!

Like REALLY appreciate it

[peak escarp]

Of course 🙂

[pale parcel]

NOOO STOP GIVING ME FREE THERAPY (thanks, couldn't afford therapy in this economy, keep this up)