The Other Me
I sense you are there again
Behind me
Lurking, loitering
Deathly quiet
Agonisingly quiet
Fear grips
It smothers me
My body is encased
My thoughts are no longer my own
You are seizing control
Your strength is drowning all I have
As you fall inside me
My eyes become yours
Isolating objects to use
To torment or hurt
Discomfort beyond the imaginable
Heartbreak
That red pair of stockings draped innocently over the chair
That cable waiting patiently to bring back life
That used bag discarded without care on the floor
All of them perfect weapons you say
That voice that voice
So resolute, so unrelenting
Depicting a scene so extreme if left
Pick up, tidy away
Put them out of sight
Before he finds them
Need I act?
Must I clear away?
Will they fall victim to such cruelty?
Can’t think can’t think
Fear has paralyzed me
To act would calm but not solve
To leave them would deliver such intolerable angst
But then space
Space to breathe
Space to think
Space to move on
Space to be free
Space to live
At least for a moment
​
Background: Being an anxious person is like being stalked by a terrifying individual, who is telling you what to do, and the terrible harm that will come if you don't.