Anxiety.
It's human nature, you say.
It's normal, you say.
Everyone has it, you say.
Get over it, you say.
But you don't listen.
You don't hear it screaming at me at night.
You don't feel my chest exploding throughout the day.
You don't see the tears in my eyes from the constant torture.
You don't know.
My darkest demon is a whispering ache & pain that something is wrong.
That I'm going to die.
& one day I will.
She was beautiful, you'll say.
She was too young, you'll say.
No one even knew she was suffering, you'll say.
So listen. Listen close. Not everyone fights a demon that is easy to see--easy to understand. Don't judge another person's fears, because they aren't irrational; they matter. It's real. & it's alive.