Even Numbers Always

Rocking back and forth on my chair

Tap tap tap tapping on my thighs

Even numbers always

Usually groups of two or ten

Odd numbers don't ease the pain

Anxiety's infiltrated me yet again

*

Tap my thumbs on the desk, one at a time

One right, one left,

Two right, two left,

Three left...

Dammit, need to start all over from the top

Hopefully I will calm soon and then stop

*

Tap my big toes on the carpet

Do I count out five on each foot

Or do it one after the other?

Anxious thoughts leave me with this plight

Did I start with the left or the right?

*

Do I want a biscuit? No, thank you

One’s not enough to subdue the strain

That tick tocks inside my frazzled brain

Maybe four, six or even eight

Better yet, get ten on my plate

*

Now that calm is settling in

I can take a rest from tapping

Enjoy the lack of tick-tocking

Until my poor frazzled brain

Is infiltrated by anxiety again

*

Dammit again, if that was the end

I'd be left with five stanzas

That's odd, so I need six stanzas

To help my mind feel complete

And leave me feeling internally replete.

*

Thank you for reading!

Basically inspired, as if that wasn't obvious, by anxiety and some of my coping methods. Always has to be evens.

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