He’s always at ease and calm about what’s around,
But someone told him not in a voice but an unidentifiable sound,
That there’s something waiting to hit,
Now he’s a little too frantic to sit,
He looked forward to see,
Sideways in hopes he could be free,
Backwards for what’s lurking,
Giving himself whiplash from all the jerking,
Every direction besides “up” was inspected,
Thoughts of what was above him a fear resurrected,
Instead of looking, he braces for impact,
Preparing to react,
Awaiting climax,
He is the embodiment of the antonym of relax,
But a voice inside tells him to tilt up his chin,
Breathing in deep he counts to ten,
Awaiting the worst,
Overwhelmed his head is about to burst,
His eyes jump inwards,
Shocked that the sky doesn’t hold paranoid words,
All this time it’s only been clouds above him,
Next time he won’t give ridiculous thoughts even a skim,
He loosens his neck and laughs into the beautiful clouds above him.

Author’s Note:
Thank you for reading my work. This was another challenging poem for me to write because it’s
a very different perspective than I try to usually write from. This poem was inspired by how silly
it can be when you stress over things in your head and make non-existent things real. I wanted
to end this poem off with laughter because I wanted the character to find humor in the
realization that he got himself worked up for no reason at all. And I believe him laughing at
himself further embraces not making everything such a big deal.