Anxiety Can Be
—after Patrick Ramsay
a footpath, a mountain trail, a clearing,
a busy road. Can be red. Yellow.
Smoke signal. Maybe beige. Can be
baby’s breath. Can appear in mid-day
or in the black hole of night. Before
presidential elections. After.
Perhaps after writing a good poem.
When throwing open the window
to welcome the new day. Anxiety
doesn’t necessarily soften in time
like watercolors. Does not scat
at your command. Anxiety can come
from the sun and the moon, from clouds
cumulus or stratus or dizzying or fog.
Can appear when the world’s agog
with wonder and awe, can surface
when the stars seem indifferent and cold.
At times, it’s an organ with ten thousand pipes,
other times, a simple flute phrase in a minor key.
Published: Verse-Virtual, July 2025
Photo by Eleonora Paolino on Unsplash