Hysteria 

The laid back calm sits in your lap

like silence-laced skin or shades 

of indifference. Whichever it is,

I don’t get it. I can’t wrap my mind 

around the steadfast ways of your 

‘everything will be fine’

tone of voice long enough to ready 

my throat for the swallowing of

my own disaster. And sometimes 

there’s a lasso on your tongue that 

keeps grabbing me to say, 

“you are hysterical!” 

Well, yes I am. 

That’s what it looks like 

underneath my skin. 

World hysteria day every fucking day.

Welcome home to the place 

you never would leave 

when I asked you to. 

Welcome to me, the one you chose 

for better or worse and the worst 

of me hasn’t even broken out yet. 

Welcome to my heart, a closed book 

you never learned to read. 

The lesson is over. 

  -Stephanie Bennett-Henry©2016