It wells up inside me,
but words will not come

I reach for them desperate,
the mood zero sum

My insides are shaking,
all peace is recalled

The rumblings foreboding,
complacency falls

My mind is locked down,
my speech has gone mute

Like a great locomotive,
the first word breaking through

The dozens that follow
keep me pinned to my chair

As voices I know
start consuming the air

My brain is on fire,
my will starts to melt

Time sacrificial,
what’s heard and then felt

My pen has unfrozen,
in timeless delight

Directing this journey
—from darkness to light

(Rosemont Pennsylvania: February, 2020)