Anxiety

Sometimes anxiety slips in so slight

A gentle tremor just out of sight

A knee softly taps, a silent alarm

Invisible signals concealed from harm

Hands twist and fidget, searching for peace

Caught in a cycle that struggles to cease

Eyes avoid meeting another’s gaze

Lost in a labyrinth, tangled in haze

Weight presses down on a too-tight chest

A muted ache that won’t let you rest

You wear your composure, forge a disguise

Floating through spaces with practiced replies

Yet sometimes the storm can no longer be masked

Shaking and gasping, you’re visibly tasked

The world seems to pause, no longer so blind

As panic erupts, untempered, unkind

You sense your heart begin to seize

You slip away in silence so no one sees

Breathe through the weight till the thunder is gone

The sun finds your shadows, the day presses on