Taylor Swift’s song “epiphany” on the folklore album compares a soldier’s experience with war to what we experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this next edition of what I’m calling The Folklore Chronicles, I’ll dive into the poem I wrote for this track.
nothing left to speak
there’s more than one way
to wage war against ourselves
and fall further down.
Throughout Swift’s song, she repeats the phrase, “And some things you just can’t speak about.” That line spoke volumes to me about the power of PTSD long after a traumatic event passes. It also highlighted how much silence often speaks to us, much like white space around text on a page. What goes unsaid holds as much importance as the words we use to express ourselves.
That’s why I felt a short haiku fit my piece for “epiphany” so well. It’s brief and simple, seemingly unimportant upon first glance. But that brevity forces the reader to go back and read it again, looking for the message between the lines.
The comparison of a soldier’s time at war with that of a new doctor thrown into the throes of COVID-19 felt so poignant. Swift’s soft vocals throughout the song evoke the sense of someone whispering, or even choking back their words, as they try to hold back tears. I wanted to create a similar impression by keeping the poem to only those three lines.
Thanks for following along as I take this poetic journey through Taylor Swift’s album folklore.