Mind Contracting Poem by Margaret Alice Second

No sleep, brain irritated by an unidentified chemical - thus
I'm an 80-year old with severe dementia - the only concept
of control is sleep-seeking oblivion; I'm fumbling at my desk,
can't lift my head, fatigue-waves washing over me - drinking
coffee just to understand my colleagues' cheerful bantering

Hallucinant, I leap up in acute embarrassment, hastily pour
coffee in my frozen drink and run to track down bus-driver
Maverick who kept my purse for me & give him a cool drink
promised in thanks, all while knowing I might have to walk
eight blocks to another stop if his bus doesn't appear

My compressed brain contains no joy, can't flee suffering,
mind contracting till pressure is unbearable - this moment
in time continues unabated as my ability to escape myself
is destroyed by lack of serotonin; how does one overcome
it if nothing helps to shift the clock - or change the grid of

Lightning pain contracting in one's head; & how does one
remain calm when their mind's exploding with white-hot
lava spurting within, thus leaving nothing but this utterly
inane regression in its wake?