Gum Brain
Inside my head
Is a wad of chewed-up bubble gum.
It’s been chewed over and over
Until no sweet flavor remains.
But it’s still sticky.
Negative, hurtful thoughts about myself
Are captured in the web of goo,
Dangling,
Hanging around inside my head.
My brain chokes on the stale strands,
Unable to break free,
twisting and winding
until all there is
in my head
is a lattice-work
of negativity.
The real me is lost,
Hidden by the maze of pink sticky sludge.
Good thoughts
Sometimes ride in,
But slide through, as if on a piece of ice,
Temporarily freezing the gum web
Until the good thoughts
Pass right through.
I am unable to grasp them,
And hold on.
I can no longer see clearly.
I no longer can tell
What is right or wrong,
Good or bad.
I feel trapped,
Alone,
Panicking for air
In my own mind.
