Fear clasps its icy fingers around my throat
Drags me to my feet
Standing and
Sweating
My mouth opens,

Words overflow
I'm no longer myself
Merely a vessel
A ship spinning in circles on an emerald sea of nothing
The words are the shackles around the anchor
As it sinks
And rusts,
Petrified in the sand

And the eyes of the audience are eating me alive
They rake through my jeans, grope through my sweater, paw through my thoughts
And my stomach is churning
Sifting
Flipping
And my hands are clenching
Shaking and
I'm swaying
To the empty sounds I can't understand
In a language I can't interpret
Lava burning my swollen tongue

The frozen grip around my neck ceases
I collapse into my seat
A rag doll dropped from a balcony
My skin alight with flames
My blood drumming in my ears
Drilling through my veins
I wilt into the gray-tiled floor
While someone else begins the
Torture.