Fear (not in "The Monster in the Corner" but due for publication in either a magazine or fresh collection)
perhaps it's lack of sleep
perhaps it's lack of love
perhaps it's the change of seasons
perhaps it's the smell of spicy food
perhaps it's a flash of schizophrenia
but my skin flares
with
fear
and my stomach winds
until life is only
fog
and it hurts
no matter whether
it's the head-choking exhaustion
or the prickle of hunger
or the white-eyed chill in the air
or the sauce-flower bugs
or the thorny chemicals
unbuckling in my brain
there is something in me
turned over and over again
made fleshy
and raw
and vulnerable.
perhaps it's lack of sleep
perhaps it's lack of love
perhaps it's the change of seasons
perhaps it's the smell of spicy food
perhaps it's a flash of schizophrenia
but my skin flares
with
fear
and my stomach winds
until life is only
fog
and it hurts
no matter whether
it's the head-choking exhaustion
or the prickle of hunger
or the white-eyed chill in the air
or the sauce-flower bugs
or the thorny chemicals
unbuckling in my brain
there is something in me
turned over and over again
made fleshy
and raw
and vulnerable.