This Dark Brain

Thoughts spin and catch,

falling into a whirlwind melting pot of what-ifs.

Multiplying and spreading

faster than she can catch a glimpse.

It fills the corners of her brain,

latching onto vital functions

and infecting them with their panic.

Paralysis creeps in.

Stealthily at first,

hidden behind furtive, repetitive movements

that gain no ground.

Then she stops.

Stops entirely.

Stares in horror.

Sees nothing

as thoughts pop and explode

on every nerve ending in her brain,

overwhelming every sense in her body

until it throbs.

Her face flushes and sweats

whilst her fingers shrink,

icy and hard.

Her heart beats and beats and beats.

She hears it in her ears.

She feels it rattle her core.

It follows the thoughts blindly.

Even as her thinking brain pleads with her:

they make no sense.

But the brain underneath

cannot hear.

Will not listen.

Will not stop.