Katie Foster's "hiding it" follows one morning, from waking at 5:45 to arriving at school, through the mind of someone caught in anxiety. Every small moment, like getting up, choosing breakfast or checking a bag, sets off a flood of questions that pile on top of each other with barely a pause. Each time the worry builds, the speaker answers the same way: "PUSH IT DOWN!" Then comes the order to "Stop thinking."
The repetition makes the poem feel like a loop the speaker can't escape. The long, breathless lines contrast with the short, harsh commands, so we feel the panic rising and then being shut down. Notice that the speaker even argues with themselves, wanting to cry but not wanting to be seen, feeling sick but doubting it. By the end, they don't even know how they feel. The mood is tense, exhausting and quietly sad. The title suggests the real struggle is keeping all this hidden, and the poem ends without relief.