placebo

Terrible,

beautiful stories

keep me calm through terrifying

brutal nights

so I can sleep, dream, 

hide, quietly

keep calm, crying quietly

don't harm

the silence

the charm that makes it

all right

if they don't hear me

if I'm invisible

if my pattern fits exactly

shadow's safety.

Can't give in 

to jump out of my skin

anxiety.  Take these pills

and chill.

No one can kill what 

can't be found

subject from ground

undifferentiated.

Protect me from hate,

from those I'm afraid of,

from trying to relate

with what is left of my mind.

Time travels on.

Worlds collide or pass by.

Industrial waste learns to energize;

cycles within spirals within

ticking plotlines.

Better beautiful than wise.

Beauty is its own reward

in the terrifying dark

turning fear

to wonder