the fear

is a clear aether:

cloying, clinging

like trapped vapor pressing

on my heart with twelve oceans

(thoughts: blocks)

then grains of peppery static

then stardust: fuzzy logic

my words blur and buzz

like a numb arm on a neon light

sweat evaporates

from me like a desert mirage –

my brain a red anthill,

my mouth breathing instead of my lungs

“my apologies, i just need one

chronic minute, one brief lifetime

for this to pass over”