Pending Judgment

[hobbit86]

I know the feeling of writing to release frustration. And you really can feel that tension within this poem.
Exams and education hold much more than the possibility of failure, they hold your dreams. And the waiting can be a killer!

It’s suffocating.
Not literally, but still
I gasp for air I don’t need.

I like the first and last line...but the 2nd line is just too casual...it's more as if having a conversation with someone and just saying "I can't breath, not literally..."
I'm not a good poet, so most of what I say probably won't be any good, and will just be personal opinion rather than any worth...but here goes...
perhaps something like
Suffocating with fear
Gasping for the air I do not need

Feels like my soul is twisted
into a knot.
If it even exists.

I like this line...I'm a sucker for liking poems I can relate to...if I can't feel like I understand the emotion within the poem, I tend to not read it...this can be related to any kind of fear...love, exams, life...most people will relate to this stanza.

No, I don’t want to know.
The only way out
is to know, but
I don’t want to know.

I don't know. You are a good poet, so I feel you could do something...cleverer...with these lines...It's probably your frustration coming through,....but it's too...straight to the point...

Fear, it must be.
What else can it be?
Of the unknown,
superficially.
Of failure,
of hard evidence
of incompetence,
actually.

yup like these lines not much to say....all your fears oozing out these lines

So, this is being normal.
Then I’d rather stay the weirdo
who at least have enigmatic depth would it be has? change it to single rather than pl seeing as it's been about the singular 'you'
to his stoicism.

Good read though, I can get a sense of your emotions and thoughts in this poem, and that's what I like to read. Get a sense of what the poet feels.

And good luck, I hope you do well. But for the record, no matter what you get, you are not a failure or incompetent...you can only do you best in life...nothing more...I wish I'd learnt that years ago. Don't allow social pressures dictate who you should be...you can only aim to please one person...yourself. Other people should be proud of you no matter what!! Aim to make yourself proud...and if you worked your harest and did your best, then you already have something to be proud about!
I'm sure you have done well, you seem a very intelligent person on this forum.

xx Hobbit