And then it begins.
Molten lava wedged in between
The crevices of my heart,
Piercing reddish orange.
The words from my mouth stumble out,
Tripping and falling,
Causing the others behind them
To miss their step
And come to a full stop.
Twenty one and half pair of eyes
In my direction… Lying in wait.
My words take too long to recover,
But there they are.
Still.
Waiting.
I wish I too could look them back in the eyes,
All twenty one and half of them.
I wish I too could watch them as they watch me. Intently.

S   I   L   E   N   C   E

A shadowed hand strangulates
As I struggle to escape from its grasp.
I…can’t…breathe!
My lungs burn as if I’ve been running,
Far too long,
As if I’ve been held captive in a closed room,
The water slowly climbing up
My feet…
Hips…
Chin.
My hands reach out in desperation.
My hands reach out into nothingness.
Take a deep breath.
Inhale…
I can’t
Exhale…
Do this…
I can’t.
Inhale…
My breathing and talking are out of sync,
My brain can’t seem to make up its mind.
Should I breathe first,
Then talk or talk,
Then breathe first.
It tries too much.
So much…that ultimately
I’m the one who gets stuck in between.

s   i   l   e   n   c   e

Everything stops.
The eyes, the thoughts,
My words.
They stop coming forth,
But my body still doesn’t respond.
My ears steam out hot air,
My cheeks flush against
The calmness of the room.
Show me the way out.