every nerve
feels exposed

i don’t have
any reason for it
yet the anxiety
screams on a loop

all i can do
is breathe
through the razor
wire straightjacket
even as each hesitant
expansion slices deeper
leaving gelatinous
cubes quivering in
dissonant malaise

nervously exposed
with every agony casually
flayed and displayed
for your viewing
displeasure