Fear.
Haunting, crippling fear.

At any moment's notice,
it drags me under.

Peeling away my skin
with its rusty, gnawing claws

All I can smell is smoke
but nothing is burning

Death fills my lungs and
caresses the tip of my tongue

It's all I can taste and feel and smell
It's on my back like a demon

It aches so much that my heart is heavy
Too heavy with its pounding

Everyday this sensation comes
Every night

Yet its origin is unknown
and yet the fear still takes me

I can't fight it
I know I will succumb

Leaving my life as ashes in the wind,
On the tip of someone else's tongue