Ring a Bell

Tinnitus tinnitus, innocuous by name, invisible tasteless, sounds pretty lame, Ears hissing, snakes inside my head, Growing louder, causing turmoil in bed, Room’s spinning, feel like getting sick, Banging kicks off, rhythmically quick. Tinnitus tinnitus, pneumatic drillers, incessant maniacal machine gun killers, Thumping smashing, trash metal band, Like rock music, but this I cannot stand, Eyes are bloodshot, severe lack of sleep, cacophonous noise, then marching feet. Tinnitus tinnitus, chainsaws a cutting, No trees or lumberjacks, I see nothing, Put on the radio, try drown out noise, overwhelmed, lose rationale and poise, Church bells peeling, ringing perhaps, overloaded, mind spirals into collapse. Tinnitus tinnitus, curse this living hell, hammering my face, eyes begin to swell, Delirious sweating, sheets soaking wet, overcome in confusion, desperate upset, Pray to god make the torment go away release me from this Kafkaesque array. Tinnitus tinnitus, eardrums explode, Brain is shattered, as decibels grow, Can’t take anymore, at my wits end, On slugs of whiskey, sanity depends, One after the other, knock them back, Throbbing numbing starting to relax. Tinnitus tinnitus, drink myself unconscious, Wake up next day, agonizingly nauseous, My ear is on the pillow, bottle’s in pieces, covered with blood, trembling increases, Look in the mirror, No no this cannot be, Vincent Van Gough’s, staring back at me. By David Kavanagh