Dark arms reach up inside my mind,

slithering through, coating

my thoughts with a thick film.

They become obscure.

Now the bombs explode,

cascading silent sparks-

the clanking pots and pans

sound like colors in my mind.

My chest constricted by the

python of my anxiety.

Oxygen filters through my body

like sand through a screen-

but I am still breathing.

Has it been weeks, days, minutes?

Does it even matter?

Hold on until this wave has passed-

until the bump is just a bump,

and a step is just a step.

Hold on until my chest is free,

until my mind is silenced,

and a new day has begun.