Stepping Out Of This Life, Back In 5 Minutes Poem by Patti Masterman

Fear. My lips moving.
Saying something.
What is it? I can't hear myself, even my thoughts are muffled.
My heart beating.
Too hard.
My eyes- searching for something.
My haunted eyes.
I'm haunted by life, by limits, by time sequences.

Exposures, I can't control.
I'm captured by others lives, by other eyes.
Controlled by smiles.
I'm caught in lies, exhausted escape routes.
I don't know what to run from anymore.
Perhaps I'll stand still till it catches up with me.

I don't know what I'll do then.
Does anyone ever know what they'll do?
I'll smash the glass and ring the bell.
I'll wait for help to come.
But help for what?
Help is usually an illusion and we must suffer anyway,
come what may.

In planning your escape, avoid obvious routes.
Dig tunnels underground
with your teeth and breathe through a straw.
Reinvent yourself.

Nobody really cares what you do unless it inconveniences them
or their way of life.
You are allowed to inconvenience yourself.

Be careful stepping outside of your illusions-
that is the most dangerous time..