Anxia — Summary

ionna_kAnxious

It’s a numbing feeling It starts in the darkest depths of our minds A mocking echo of nothingness And then just like a virus It begins to spread Slowly but painfully You try to ignore it But it’s as good as shaking of an arm or leg And when it finally gets to your heart It suffocates you And you begin to drown in a pool of misery and pain No lifeguards can save you this time At first you think the pain is just in your mind But then you grab your chest and begin to grasp for air The tears come down slowly at first But then suddenly begins to pour in torrents By now you’re suffocating And choking on tears And all you want is an anchor Someone to hold on to Someone to whisper to you And say “Everything is going to be ok” Someone to silence the tsunami in your soul But no one comes No one understands And that’s what you’re scared of No one will understand And you don’t know how to explain You don’t know how to explain the pain The jabs you feel on your heart The fear that no one will understand That no one will believe you You’re scared And the fear sends an extra jolt of pain up your heart And you crumble Letting down all your defenses And begin to apologize Chanting “I’m sorry” Over and over again To nothing To no one To everyone To everything

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Anxiety is the subject here, and the speaker describes it as something that creeps in and takes over the body. It begins as a "numbing feeling" in the mind, then spreads "like a virus" until it reaches the heart. From there the images turn to water: drowning, choking on tears, a "tsunami" in the soul. The speaker says the pain is not only mental. It becomes physical, with a grabbed chest and gasping for air.

What hurts most is the loneliness. The speaker longs for an anchor, someone who will whisper that everything will be okay, but "no one comes." Even worse is the fear that no one will understand, and that fear feeds the panic further. By the end the speaker breaks down and apologizes over and over, to "nothing," "no one," "everyone," "everything." The mood is raw, desperate, and heavy. The short lines and repetition make the poem feel breathless, like the panic it describes.

Read also

More by ionna_k

All poems
Anxiousionna_k

Petunia x hybrida

Nothing matters anymore? I watch silently Each day passes gruesomely slow, I can no longer tell whether or not I'm stuck in a dream. I guess it really doesn't matter how long I've been here.