The Daily Grind

overstimulated 

under felt

I hear my hair 

brush against my

eye lashes as

my eyelids close

against squidging orbs 

each time they touch

like a socked foot 

slapping the stairs

ears reverberating 

with heartbeats 

broken by the 

ice cracking swallows 

of pressurized ear drums 

every yawn

cutting off access

to the outside world

huge snapping jaws 

trying to swallow up 

everything I have ever known

tongue slicking

on the inside of my teeth 

forcing air through 

in short unpleasant squeaks 

every minute motion 

inciting grinding, groaning, 

clicking, and hollow snapping

papery skin 

schiffing against itself 

in a soft shuffle

sudden itch causing 

a flush I can't resist

digging into it with long

carefully painted

flakily brittle claws

hastily drawn across

in a scrabbling and

sliding, searching for imperfections

any slight bump or hot spot 

a tchhtchh in the line 

proceeding with life calls for

action, so I attempt motion

spine crackling like a 

piece of baking paper 

lain out for a batch of cookies

the stretch of my 

muscles taught

strips the air from my lungs 

a hollow, exhaling gasp 

my fingers clutch 

air in pain 

each knuckle in turn 

building up pressure

popping like rivets 

busted by a pressurized 

water stream 

sputteringly forcing 

air from my chest 

like a drowning Model-T 

in distress

causing a collapse in the rest 

folding and smashing 

muscles and organs

keeling over, on the ground 

like a shot dead deer

the stretch of my muscles taught

a rip of air into my lungs 

a hollow inhaling gasp

ending much the same as it began

a sniveling mess

the whimpers snort 

out involuntarily

between gulps of air

an ocean of carpet fibers 

rushing against my skin 

I focus on the entanglement 

my hair, spreading tresses

crunching strands 

knot my fingers in despair 

a silent suffocating mass like 

the great garbage pile

K.B. Silver