birdpanic [April 2007]

stress
eating up my marrow
hollowing my bones

muscles stiffened
to the point of snapping
neurons flashing
crackling a
july 4th finale in my head

and under my skin
burning
gunpowder trails in my veins
unlit, but itching to be
opened up with steel
and set afire

explosion
threatening my gut
intestines knotted about
the stress and each other
strangling my stomach
choking

my heart
tightened cage of pale plastic
clenching hard and brittle
indenting my chest with
lines of pressure

in my throat
from the inside out
egg of rising panic
lodged behind my adam's apple
nauseating fullness
pushing

like the tar behind my
neck, the shadow
lying between my shoulders, the
heaviness in the knob
at the base of the skull

and inside my head
cotton and fire
cotton on fire
burning and clogging
smoke stinging my eyes
choking
filling
searing
snapping
flashing

into

panic