If You Look Inside My Eye

If you walk into classroom 314 You will see the perfect image of pristine An iron statue, still and strong A picture book motif of calm But if you look just right into its eye You’ll see just what it tries to hide. Inside my brain a drumbeat pounds And a screeching, whiny, anxious sound Wood sprites bounce about my head Two parts boredom, three parts dread. Each anxious word I ever thought Weaves an ever bigger growing knot. My anxiety plays heavy metal Nagging worries cling like nettles. I think of all left to be done I sit in stillness as if stunned. There’s too much too much not enough My brain is frozen and in a rush. It’s the loudest noise you’ll ever hear A heart left pounding in an ear Screams and wails, they whine what ifs Like grains of sand my sanity sifts Outside the chaos and the noise The statue sits with perfect poise.