Anxiety.
I wish it was a stranger.
No, this is so familiar.
It is my companion. My closest companion.
Never far, there’s nothing to note when it leaves.
But, oh, the return. That’s something to know about.
When with one breath I can feel it coming.
In the second breath it is here.
By the third, it is settling into my chest.
Fourth finds it in my bones.
Restless stomach, I cannot move.
Each breath brings more in.
Each breath is dread, poison.
How much more can I take?
Will I survive this course?
Oh, it is here, and it has everything.
The world is contained in this.
Every piece of sand, every flower.
Every billowing cloud, every smile.
Your laugh, and the hopeful eye,
You all are in this, and you have nothing.
Two dimensional caricatures
Worthless loves and lives
In here, you are just moments
Meaningless, but not weightless
All of you pile into me
Fall onto me
Smother me with your demands
With your chatter
With your cares
Anxiety eats you
Makes you dust
That coats my lungs
Suffocates me
