there's a monster brooding in my stomach
sprawling its claws everywhere
numbing my voice box
poisoning my words
piercing my lungs
eating my heart
reaching up to my brain and impaling it sharply

its presence is ravishing through my body
coursing through my veins
replacing the blood flowing through my body
with icy cold shards
my body twitches
with every twang of anger it feels

for some people, this monster is a fair-weathered friend
who comes and goes as it pleases

for me,
this terrifying creature,
with its foreign rage,
its dastardly nature,
its feigned heart,

this monster is me