The 2022 Irish Epilepsy League writing competition was won by pharmacy student at the Royal College of Surgeons, Isabel Azu.
You can read Isabel's winning poem in full below...
The danger of déjà vu
I have this recurring dream,
but it happens when I’m awake,
It usually starts the same way,
Deep greens, pale blues and pink clouds invade my field of vision,
Within seconds, they dominate my line of sight,
Fear rises up like smoke through my body and rests on my chest,
Its weight forces air out of my lungs,
I try to maintain composure,
I try to remain calm but,
panic descends on me anyways.
In an instant,
I am pushed into an ocean of nostalgia,
and for a second I don’t panic,
I am curious as to where I have seen this before,
The memory washes over me like a wave,
and pulls me out further to sea,
away from the shores of control.
I am submerged in it.
When I become lucid, my head pounds,
I wipe the drool from my chin,
My mind is muddled,
My thoughts resemble tangled old Christmas lights,
But I cannot find the strength to unravel them.
It wasn’t a dream.
It was a seizure.