Sensory Overload

A poem about anxiety

I can’t stand the noise
It’s always too much
Constant suffocating symphonies
Of voices, clangs, and bumps

The room is too small,
Their smiles too bright
I can’t think through the chaos
My rib cage holds me too tight

Their sounds steal all the air
I need order to breathe
If I run with my keys now
How far to go to 'till I'm free?

I know I must be crazy
So enraged that I am close to tears
From listening to squealing laughter
And the scrape of shuffling chairs

But I feel dizzy
nauseous and hot and wild
My heartbeat drowns out my reason
They look over at me
I force a smile


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