#seizure
It starts with drifting gravity, a tilt inside my head,
a softly rising whisper stirring thoughts of coming dread.
A coin dissolves across the back side of my tongue,
copper blooming bitter where no metal should have sung.
Then smoke without a fire curls quiet inside my head,
burnt toast in empty air with no appliance making bread.
A silver screaming siren ringing through my ears,
loud enough to drown the world I used to hear.
Spots scatter like fireflies and blur the room to gray,
the hallway bends and tunnels like a carnival midway.
The floor tilts over sideways, balance losing tread,
as static sweeps my brain from right to left in shocks that spread.
I wonder if a lightbulb feels this tremor before it goes—
a struggling little filament just moments from repose.
Then darkness folds the curtains and erases what I know,
the last thing that I witness is the absence of the glow.
They say my knees forget me and surrender to the floor,
my skull meets tile as thunder echoes through the core.
My body locks to timber stiff as winter-bitten trees,
then slackens just a moment — iron seizing in my knees.
My lungs clutch air like treasure hoarded away from me,
my eyes stay wide and distant where a conscious mind should be,
my pupils stretch and tighten like a telescope in fright,
searching empty galaxies behind extinguished sight.
My lips and fingers blue like winter biting at my skin,
my nerves ignite in rhythm like a storm that’s locked within,
one storm recedes to silence as another takes its place,
a tide of broken voltage every muscle has to take.
Again the rigid board, again the thunder’s crack,
again the lungs hold breath from me despite my begging back.
Minute after minute, my body fights the night,
until a needle stills the storm and switches off the light.
I wake like someone beaten by a marathon of war,
every joint remembering a pain I wasn’t there for.
Everything surrounding me feels fake but somehow real,
my memory like clips of film jumping through the reel.
I’m counted as a victory because I’m breathing still,
as if survival settles the next one coming ‘round the hill.
‘Cause stable’s just the silence where the thunder used to be,
a ticking timebomb waiting somewhere deep inside of me.
So I laugh a little softer and walk a little slow,
like something in my wiring could forget me and let go.
I live between the warnings that may never come again,
or might arrive tomorrow like a half-forgotten friend.
Mar 7
Mar 7, 2026 at 4:35 AM UTC
It seems I can’t wake a single day
without first asking—
Who am I..?
Okay, calm down, Valjean.
No need for drama.
You know yourself better
than any other ever could.
Who lives beyond,
behind, beneath your eyes?
If not you?
If not — me?
Not—
no.
stop.
And this is where
all
thoughts
d
r
o
p
My eyes widen
and I wait.
Barbed wire unwinds—
threading through the subconscious,
inch by inch.
Restrained.
Subdued.
Muted.
For but a moment,
the off-beat
pulse of confusion
fades
a w a y . . .
Stained-glass eyes, ajar,
peering through vacant space.
An empty husk sits
unoccupied.
Psyche:
abandoned.
bum-bum…
Jaw agape
salivating.
bum-bum…
Moans, groans,
humming to no one.
bum-bum…
What ghosts
do you
mumble to?
***
A lamp’s light creeps
toward what, before,
was naught.
***
Is this—
intent?
Perhaps—
Purpose?
Life?
Who’s to say?
What is life,
anyway?
Jun 29, 2025
Jun 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM UTC
Two years ago today
Was our one month anniversary
Your father wouldn't let me come over
He never did approve of us.
Two years ago today
I loved you too much
I liked the feeling too much
I hated life too much
Two years ago today
I was surrounded by
Six half-full bottles of
Cymbalta.
Two years ago today
I emptied those pills
Into my heart and they
Infected my soul.
Two years ago today
I had a seizure in my bed
And lost all memory
Of the week leading up to it.
Two years ago today
I was rushed to the hospital
Lay shaking in the bed
Unable to lift my head.
Two years ago today
You visited me, eyes filled with
Something I'd never seen in them:
Dread.
Two years ago today
You climbed into my bed and
Held me like you thought
I would shatter.
Two years ago today
Was the very last day
I would ever have
You.
Dec 9, 2020
Dec 9, 2020 at 2:34 PM UTC
Carpe diem
Seize the day
I don't think they meant it to be this way
With my car in the ditch
Lucky I didn't need a stich
Carpe diem
Seize the day
I wish I had a say
Waking up to a loud siren
My body feels like I've just done a mile run
Carpe diem
Seize the day
I don't usually pray
But as I try to scream
I hope this is a dream
Carpe diem
Seize the day
I have to keep my mind at bay
In the big machines I pretend to sleep
Or count each time they beep
Carpe diem
Seize the day
Here i lay
In a hospital bed
I could have been dead
Carpe diem
Seize the day
If only I could make it obey
Because as i feel my body shake
I dont know how much more I can take
Carpe diem
Seize the day
I know I don't want it this way
Dec 1, 2020
Dec 1, 2020 at 9:35 AM UTC
All I see are the insides of my eyelids.
All I hear are muffled sounds of people
Panicked by the sight of my unruly body.
Shifting in and out of what I think to be real,
Flickering on and off,
Someone is playing with the lights.
Someone touches me
I want to touch back
Hello?
And again.
Who is touching me?
They stop.
Desperate for touch,
I grasp for something that’s not there.
I collect nothing but air in my hands.
Touch touch touch
Touch something!
Touch anything!
Dec 24, 2019
Dec 24, 2019 at 3:50 AM UTC
A relapse is beginning
With the walls thinning
Nov 22, 2019
Nov 22, 2019 at 8:15 PM UTC
featherweight
with more heat than light
more feast, than a violence
we found a clamour
together
drunk tank, we tackled
battered at one and the other
we mashed in pleasing
years
we dedicated
fractured time manufactured
sot saturated
employed
misfunctional us
trussed ; brace pinned neat by the heels
whatever be, come
glitched
the floor-riding fits
upturned, revealing sickness
now observed and prone
hold hands
treated far apart
separate medical cots
in damage we bed
Oct 3, 2019
Oct 3, 2019 at 9:09 PM UTC
Sleepless dreaming, framed by screaming.
Is she breathing?
Take the time.
One. Two. Three.
I wonder…
Four. Five.
Is death kind?
Six. Seven.
Will she make it?
Eight. Nine.
Never mind.
Marble eyes roll in their pockets,
Arms and legs seizing their sockets,
Groaning breath sends lips aquiver,
Her tiny figure writhes and shivers.
Ten. Eleven
How much longer?
Twelve. Dear God!
Let her be stronger.
A Toneless voice of mock assurance,
Won’t deter these pulsing currents,
Tongues detained by ball and chain,
Massage the air to ease the pain.
Thirteen comes.
Now slowly, easy.
Fourteen.
The sound of gentle breathing.
Dimple-drawn, her mouths sweet boarders,
Pull that weak smile from its cask,
Inhale relief, a hard won nectar,
Her limbs all leaded from their task.
One nod from death,
one swift departure
and for the moment, all is fine.
The clock's cold hands
continue turning,
So don't forget to take the time.
Mar 8, 2019
Mar 8, 2019 at 12:39 PM UTC
I once knew a lady of leisure
whose only thoughts were of pleasure
the sins of the flesh
keeping hers fresh
all the way up to an ******** seizure
Mar 2, 2019
Mar 2, 2019 at 1:18 AM UTC
Sun rays poking from the windows
I can't get my head off this pillow
stale air in this room and I'm holding my breath
anxiety attempts to control what occurs next
then a seizure erupts in my head
Hits the glitch
in my automatic mask
I show for the world
and all those thoughts
I can't hold in my brain space
Jan 29, 2019
Jan 29, 2019 at 2:17 PM UTC
It’s a good day the lord granted.
Everything seems so perfect.
Weather is sweet.
Sun’s shining.
What could go wrong?
…….Until…..
I felt you coming.
Like a hijacker through a rear view mirror.
How I wish for a false alarm.
Dear lord may this cup pass.
A moment to accept the inevitable arrived.
Oh my God! you seized me once again.
You came like a thief at midnight.
You hijacked my mind.
You exposed me to wrath of migraines.
Horrible 30 seconds in a 24hour day.
It's like a small stain on a white garment.
The cruelty of an epileptic seizure is inevitable.
https://m.facebook.com/EpilepsyandCpfriends
Aug 18, 2018
Aug 18, 2018 at 4:50 PM UTC
Those you haven’t victimized fear you.
Mighty and dreadful you seem.
Little do they know, you only seize flesh and control the mind.
You seize not the soul.
Hence be not proud.
You’ve dwelled in me for many years.
Imprisoned me to anti-epileptic drugs.
You’ve dispirited me.
You attack, seize, and control my mind.
Your attacks are but brief.
Epilepsy be not proud.
For I fear not what rescind only flesh.
I fear what abolish both soul and flesh.
Proportional to gravitational force I fell.
I’ve always find the forte to rise.
Epilepsy be not proud.
For against all odds, I’m still alive.
https://m.facebook.com/EpilepsyandCpfriends
Aug 16, 2018
Aug 16, 2018 at 6:10 PM UTC
I am a passenger
In my own body.
Everything’s heavy
Memories spotty.
Working away
On a beautiful day
Until my heart begins to race
Adrenaline pumping
But still I’m exhausted.
Lay down on the floor
Feet up in the sky
Get blood to my brain
And continue on with my night.
An engulfing weight
Holding me tight
Pushing me farther
From consciousness’ light
I can hear you, yes.
All that comes out is a breath.
And then again,
I’m drifting away.
I can hear everything they say.
“Open your eyes”
They flutter, sight blocked
I can not
And again
My vision is spotty
A passenger in my body.
Jul 14, 2018
Jul 14, 2018 at 5:08 PM UTC
Nobody knows how it feels.
How living in fear feels.
Not knowing my next seizure.
How, where and when?
Public or private zone?
I fear the cruelty of epilepsy.
The devil you know better's than an angel you don’t?
I bet to differ.
This inevitable monster cohabite since childhood.
Anxiety haunts me even in parenthood.
Nobody knows why and how it feels except God.
Jun 17, 2018
Jun 17, 2018 at 6:40 PM UTC
I laugh because it’s over, I joke because it’s over for now.
I laugh and joke so others don’t look at me with pitiful eyes, their pitiful glances with eyes glazed over.
I am not a pity project, I am and will always be “recovering” but that does not mean I am weak.
This could have happened to anyone, my brain did not choose to be ill.
Even if I did not chose this I decided to laugh.
I decided to joke so you would not look at me though pity.
Jun 14, 2018
Jun 14, 2018 at 7:57 AM UTC
Every morning is a chance at a new day.
It’s never a bad life but a bad day.
Appreciate every seizure-free day. great feeling of rising post every fall.
Life's perkier focusing on what truly matters.
Each day may not be seizure-free,
There’s but, something good everyday.
I don’t live once.
Instead I die once.
I live every day.
I’ve been broken.
I’ve been hurt.
I’m however still alive.
https://www.facebook.com/EpilepsyandCpfriends/
Apr 16, 2018
Apr 16, 2018 at 2:57 PM UTC
I woke up confused.
I asked: what happened?
I’m broken and bruised.
Silently and violently, I was attacked.
I’m still curious to know what really happened.
The attack tears through my mind.
I’m separated from the world.
My mind was stolen.
As usual, I’m exposed to horrible migraines.
Oh! My God, it’s another seizure.
It’s one of many since childhood.
Oh! you inevitable silent attacker.
We’ve walked together since childhood.
You’ve got the nerve to even attack me at home.
I still can’t get used to our long-term one sided relationship.
Every epileptic seizure still hurt like the first time.
https://www.facebook.com/EpilepsyandCpfriends/
Apr 11, 2018
Apr 11, 2018 at 1:59 PM UTC
Always thinking,
Always fearing.
Always losing my control.
Could be better,
I resent her.
Write the letter of my soul.
Sweet obsessions,
Fear burning through my veins.
Sweet obsessions,
Questioning if I'm really sane.
It's so confusing:
The words I'm using,
To show the stories I have told.
Fight together,
Or against her.
The thoughts that I've heard are so old.
Sweet obsessions,
Fear burning through my veins.
Sweet obsessions,
Questioning if I'm really sane.
Suffering and obsessing,
Are the same thing or so it seems.
This obsession isn't sweet-
Constant thoughts of the fear to beat.
Sweet obsessions,
Fear burning through my veins.
Sweet obsessions,
Questioning if I'm really sane.
Jan 10, 2018
Jan 10, 2018 at 11:44 PM UTC
The great Mughal emperor of 16th century,
He died of multiple ***** failure,
Comprising of the heart as well as others.
They say that he loose motioned his way to death,
Then the ancient emperor had got a heart seizure.
Dysentery had made the dying emperor weaker.
Aug 29, 2016
Aug 29, 2016 at 5:23 AM UTC
Decked out in chiffon and lace
young Ella, called after mom,
never felt so grown,
rushing to mother’s call
to pilot the stroller today.
The streets to market were bare
save for a frail widow
guiding her walker to their right -
smiling at the girl in chiffon.
Without a sign, electric shocks
seized the old woman's frame,
spreading her supine like a crucifix
beside the irrelevant walker.
Battling through glazing eyes,
she clung to images of mother, stroller
and the girl in chiffon -
their cries a distant echo.
But their images presently faded
and old dear Ella returned to primal dust.
July, 2006
Oct 14, 2015
Oct 14, 2015 at 5:47 PM UTC
Annabelle does sit at play,
In her usual, cheery way.
She does not worry, nor does she fret,
She hasn’t reason to be scared yet.
Then, the seizure overtakes her,
Perhaps caused by a noise, an innocent whir.
“Mom, it’s happening”, she cries,
With her hands she covers her eyes.
“Annabelle, Annabelle, ‘twill all be fine,”
We calmly say, with deep fear inside.
We knew that this was epilepsy,
I wished it wasn’t her, but me.
But she endured the pain and strife,
Now a part of her daily life.
She was strong of heart and head,
Even in her hospital bed.
After a minute, the nausea stops,
And our level of fear gradually drops.
Annabelle returns to her lovely self,
But we know that more seizures will take this sweet, young elf.
Aug 10, 2015
Aug 10, 2015 at 12:41 PM UTC