Anger, in Four Parts

Part 1: Irritation

Pulsing veins tick
to the hum
of a quaking 
bomb, clicking 

down 

each 

second

Hairs vibrating
across thin layers
of papery skin,
swatting at invisible
crawling pests

Ears spilling over
the edges 
with a
tuneless throbbing, 
with an 
endless numbing rhythm
that buzzes like
a mocking mosquito

Lungs ballooned 
and heavy with 
vicious words, ready 
to strike
with every
exhalation
and spill 
their victim’s blood

Hold fast!
Beware!
Stand guard!

(Pray, don’t come near.)

It is only a 
matter of
time, of
a straw on a 
camel’s back, of
being in 
the wrong 
place, of
a flicker of 
the eye

Before

I 

ignite

the 

FLAME