Some thoughts eat away at you
Like a parasite
Consuming everything until
All that’s left
Is an insatiable desire to focus on it

It writhes throughout your veins
Leaving traces of words left unsaid
Things left undone
And misunderstandings so strong
They rise to the surface
And form goosebumps on your skin.

At the first symptom,
I take myself to some private place
I’d hate to make a scene
As if the world can see
The creatures within me
I don’t want them to see me like this

I breathe and try to keep them from my heart
I tell myself things will get better
And the words soothe me
Like aloe on the skin
Yet it’s temporary

Sometimes I must move
As if I can run from the things inside me
The things eating at
My very existence
It’s futile
Yet running feels akin
To rocking myself to sleep.
A soothing act of desperation

“Fix It!”
My soul cries
As it’s temple walls crumble
Under the weight
Of guilt, shame, and mediocrity.

So leave me be
While I inspect myself
And try to chase out
The little beasts.