Black air
Anxious heart
Wide eyes
Loud thoughts

Silence… calm… hush
Please head: be still
Count numbers; Breathe deep; Recite news
Could this be it?

Pow!
No- not yet
The animal inside me screams. It
Wants out. It punches at my organs
So the blood races against the voices
In my head. The ride has begun, again.

Control it. Pacify it. Soothe it
There, there
Remember those numbers, those breaths,
that story?

Please.

Blue light
Slow heart
Crazy eyes
No thoughts left