Gum Brain

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.