Tingles in your spine,
Warning alarms triggered.
Fear grips your body,
Terror lurks behind you.
Blood debts unpaid,
Installments never ending.
Extraction perpetual,
Bathing in leeches.
Pounding in your head,
Squeezing skulls tight.
Bulging eye sockets,
Sliding jaws pop.
Run fast or slow,
Always on your tail.
Slash across your back,
Wounds keep multiplying.
Production of emotions,
Overabundant supply.
Drowning in inventory,
No market to exploit.
Can’t stop the presses,
Assembly line keeps running.
Smeared and blank pages,
Packed up for recycling.
Business without customers,
Artist with no audience.
Writing but no readers,
Heartstrings out of reach.
Flow of feelings,
Seeking common threads.
Bypass the current,
Soul rocks hidden in the river bed.
Chiu on This 