Two minutes in, the symptoms start:

Sweaty palms, racing heart,

Shadows that dart across walls, and I catch

Them in the corner of my eye before

 they disappear.

Nothing, something, nothing is there.

Head jolts, body shudders, skin begins crawling

Into itself. There 

are creaks on the stairs.

Breathe in.

One

two

three. Feel

My heart beating heavy rhythms so hard

My bones are rattling. There are

Pins and needles down my arms and everything

Is shaking, vibrating, instigating those visions

Where the setting is in two versions of itself.

Stomach rolls over and falls from a cliff,

Watch it, entranced,

Terrified at its performance.

See how the room spins,

Dancing in too-bright spotlights,

Breathe.

I’m trying to,

Not hard enough, sit up

Sit back, relax, it’s going too fast. Please stop.

A phone-call,

Her voice revives me,

I can see again, so we say goodbye,

Hangs up.

Two minutes in, the symptoms start:

And I am back where I began.