a shroud of cool air
wraps around my bare shoulders
it’s 4:08 a.m.
I can’t sleep
I feel loathed to burden
the person who lies peacefully next to me
with the suffocating tendrils of
anxiety, shame, doubt
I fear the poison will spread
restlessness, contagious
painfully conscious

I am plagued by dreams
pain and anguish
blood and glass and teeth
shatter and sting in full color
dead or drowning
grotesque and livid

I’m either
awake and fretting or
asleep and writhing
disquiet as a state of mind
seething in my agitated paralysis

I am steeped in spirit
and it flows far smoother
than prose
apologies