Notes About The Poem

The form is a Word Prism Poem that holds a single anchor word to the light, refracting it through multiple lenses, like a prism. Rather than defining the word, it explores its 1. Meaning (beyond the dictionary), 2. Sound, 3. Appearance, and 4. Emotions, Feelings and Experiences, with each facet expressed in a concise three-line stanza.

Dysregulated

Dysregulated

A compass circling its needle,
while every horizon
steps aside.

Dry syllables
catch in the throat,
then clatter like dropped cutlery.

A long word,
stitched together
mended with mismatched joints.

It arrives as a diagnosis,
leaves like weather—
not asking the season.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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