Every day, <br /> yet unexpectedly <br /> a black bubble rises <br /> and bursts in my chest. <br /> <br /> Threads of darkness <br /> dance through <br /> the sinews and fibres <br /> of my anatomy <br /> <br /> slip through cell membranes <br /> settle in interstitial spaces <br /> swim the red tide to organ beaches <br /> far away <br /> <br /> cross the blood brain barrier <br /> straddle hemispheres <br /> and muddy the crystal clarity <br /> of chambered C.S.F. <br /> <br /> flash pain in nanoseconds <br /> like neurotransmitters <br /> axon to dendrite. <br /> <br /> Alert and ready <br /> for flight or fight, <br /> skin drains of colour <br /> peripheral circulation shuts down <br /> <br /> airways open wider and wider <br /> for the rush of panic breath <br /> and the suddenness <br /> of a scream. <br /> <br /> <br /> Published in Blue Giraffe 2007<br /><br />M.L. Emmett<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/autonomic-noire/
