Taylor Swift Wrote a Revealing Poem About Taking a Break From the Public Eye

It’s been more than a decade since Taylor Swift first came onto the music scene as a country star with her self-titled album, back in 2006, and she’s been in the spotlight ever since. But last year, following some celebrity feuds—including the infamous #KimExposedTaylorParty—and a few very public breakups, Swift took an unexpected, extended break from the spotlight.

Now, the pop star is back with her latest album, Reputation, and she’s revealing why she went on hiatus. In a poem that’s included in a special magazine that comes in a Reputation bundle available at Target, Taylor describes what it was like being away from the public eye. Titled “Why She Disappeared,” the poem was published alongside other creative projects from Swift, including original watercolor painting. And according to E! News, it includes phrases that seem to echo what Swift might have heard from her critics that inspired her break including, “Your kindness is fake” and “Your pain is manipulative.”

She also goes on to describe feeling wary of subjecting herself to public scrutiny after such an extended period of criticism. “When she finally rose, she rose slowly / Avoiding old haunts and sidestepping shiny pennies / Wary of phone calls and promises,” she writes. The poem ends on a defiant note, though, tying her choice to return to the spotlight with a nod to her new creative work: “And in the death of her reputation / She felt truly alive.”

Though the poem contains a lot of pain and raw emotions, it also has a general feeling of hope that implies that even if the past still stings for the singer-songwriter, she’s hopeful about what the future might bring for her—as an artist, a celebrity, and a 27-year-old woman. And if the Twitter reactions are any indication, earlier listeners of Reputation are very excited to have Taylor Swift back.

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