Mantra for a Panic Attack
The first breath you / feel you’re allowed
to take. Everything / slows into just
breathing. Thoughts / recede like a tide
into the rhythm. / Screaming voices
fade away. Make / room to pull in
air deliberately. / Then push it out.
Your body settles. / Seconds pass.
Let them. Everything / will come back
when it’s their time. / Tranquility
peace, calm; find your / best self underneath.
2 thoughts on "Mantra for a Panic Attack"
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When I see slashes, I think of line breaks, which is really interesting here, as though you’re trying to rearrange the form, parse out stops in a panic. Slashes also suggest to me rhythm slashes in musical notation, sharp strums on a frantic balalaika, which brings to mind the cutting pulse. People have told me (though I disagree with this) that line breaks also represent an intended breath or pause in poetry. What you’ve done with all of that, peppered with stressed and soothing remarks, really pants an accurate picture of panic attack.
Thank you! This is relatable and a good reminder. “Let them”