what if panic attacks were asteroids

would you take them more seriously? if i told you the

asteroids were aimed directly at earth, you’d probably

find a bunker and hide as deep

underground as you could go, praying

and hoping and wishing that you’re far enough

to avoid the blast—

but there’s no bunker in my brain

i can’t dig through my skin, carving

out bone and blood and muscle until i find

somewhere to take cover

from the explosions and the earthquakes

in my body, cracking my lungs, tearing my esophagus

until breathing becomes hyperventilating—

begging doesn’t work

the hollowed-out craters echo in my skull

no one believes that panic attacks are as crippling

as a mass extinction on earth, burning the sides

of my fingers like an asteroid in the atmosphere as it

singes its way to the surface, watching

everything crumble underneath.