Kaleigh Quick

Panic Attack

I’m sitting on wooden stairs
dizzy with panic and wondering when this
hell will end

I move to the floor to lay down and let the ground hold me
And suddenly I remember when you told me about your old Bassett hound
that died

You said his ears always dragged when he played in the snow
And I don’t know why of all things, my brain thinks of this when I’m
struggling to breathe
On the floor
Sick with panic

But it calms me down
To think of you as a child, walking your dog through the snow
And he is moving forward and his ears drag behind lovingly

And now I’m back on the stairs
Sitting up
Crying very hard because life is so ugly
And so abundant too