Sizzle

not sound but feel, when that arrow of adrenalin
flies down my arteries, vision clouds, like waking
up broken on pavement only to see
cardinal red taillights wing down the street.

Decades later I understand free-floating
anxiety sinks rather than floats, as it
slides down the birth canal of no control
a capture, by powerful other.

And my mantra becomes this isn’t really
important, you can leave at any time,
bringing quick release, deceleration,
airplane tires hit the runway, sometimes

bouncing, sometimes not. My hands still shaking;
heart, a clanging bell, echoes off my ribs,
fear now fading, now safely tucked
for landing, underneath my seat.

Gary D. Grossman
Libre, 21 April 2025