Whence flows the anguished gush we all endure?
What neural interplay of chemicals
Transforms my quiet heart, that soft tambour,
Into a pounding snare, hurling feral
Jolts through blue avenues beneath the skin?
How does it work—how do unwired sight
And sound first pierce, then raise a raucous din
Along my arteries, kill appetite?
What molecules, released by darting words,
Suffuse the face with fierce, untrammeled blush
Or ire, while the mere sight of blood (absurd
As it might seem) can strike one senseless, crushed?
And why does that machine, controlling mood,
Churn out such havoc, push the same effete
Collapse within the flesh despite what’s rued—
A child’s death, or the home team’s grim defeat?
(3/9/08)