A poem

Crowded cafe

Coffee lifeline

overhearing conversations

feeling

self conscious,

speaking softly then loudly

ordering

while deep inside of me

that raging sea

of anxiety.

Crowded streets

can’t hear my own footsteps

there’s no sense

of self,

just scanning for threat

among the roar

of human jaws,

Soothe

Regulate,

I sit here in the corner

my coffee

before me

I’m an actor in a scene

a romantic soul

won’t some kind soul see

my little victory

against anxiety?

Home again

my alternative narrative

my capacity

little sparkling moments

I have to celebrate

with coffee

the embrace of the place

where we gather

solitary souls together

again.

C