MC Fall 2020

CREATIVE ENCLAVE
143
She took a breath and tried to focus all of
herself into a clear, concise thought that
could be pressed down like peonies, while
the anxiety warbled and fought against
the leather-bound depressive episodes
sugarcoated in blanketed nightmares, and
the rabid suicidal tendencies and ideations
bit and snarled at one another like children
fighting over the last bit of cotton candy at
the fair, and with each tooth prick these
monsters strained, moaning and wailing
like lovers they tousled every angry
impulse, their claws leaving blowod trails
down the girl’s frail arm which crumbled
under the slightest hint of a hug, that first
knife of human contact, like wet paper
pulling against dry air she would peel like
grapefruit with no intention of comfort or
pain and as the panic attack of his hand left
her she tried, again, to breathe once more.
Author: Ashley Mazza
31 | maceandcrown.com Fall 2020 | 32