Anxiety.

I can't hear the silence 

over the racket of my heart jackhammering 

in my eardrums. 

Every beat like a punch to the gut. 

I can't see the nothing that's happening 

Only the mad eternity 

behind my eyes. 

Pleading my body 

to do my bidding 

taking in the gasps 

in short breaths

I'm terrified 

of nothing. 

I know it will subside. 

So in my room, at my desk, in the subway

in a restaurant, on a plane, 

a wedding, a funeral, about to fall asleep, 

or in the first few seconds of a new day, 

I wait 

to hear the silence again.