Autonomic Noire Poem by M.L. Emmett

Every day,
yet unexpectedly
a black bubble rises
and bursts in my chest.

Threads of darkness
dance through
the sinews and fibres
of my anatomy

slip through cell membranes
settle in interstitial spaces
swim the red tide to organ beaches
far away

cross the blood brain barrier
straddle hemispheres
and muddy the crystal clarity
of chambered C.S.F.

flash pain in nanoseconds
like neurotransmitters
axon to dendrite.

Alert and ready
for flight or fight,
skin drains of colour
peripheral circulation shuts down

airways open wider and wider
for the rush of panic breath
and the suddenness
of a scream.


Published in Blue Giraffe 2007