Probably six years ago, and much to my surprise, I was diagnosed with anxiety. While it’s normal to worry now and then, anxiety became pervasive enough that it disrupted my personal and work life. But with a little counseling and a lot of prayer, I have learned to manage it much better.
Like most other things that are part of my life, anxiety comes out in my poems from time to time. The first poem of mine to be published in a journal was, in fact, “Anxiety.”
Below is “Hive,” a poem from my last book, Shadow and Memory. “Hive” also explores the experience of anxiety. Not surprisingly, insects (AKA “creepy crawlies”) seem to be a recurring image of anxiety for me. I am sure this will resonate for many readers too (except maybe the entomologists 😆).
Hive
I am a hive
a jittering mass
of legs,
antennae,
and body segments
a claustrophobia of
hyperventilating wings
a swarm of flying barbs
swaddled
in crepe paper
A Wandering Minstrel 