Challenge
Make Me Anxious
Title. Whether it's a mismatched title and body text, prose written to bring forward feelings of anxiety, an anxious poem, a stream of anxious thought - if you feel it will incite anxiety, I want to see it! Any style, any subject matter.
Sunday Brunch
Groups of people pile into little booths.
So tight they can't move without bumping into eachother.
Pervasive odors overpower the room.
Her perfume and his deodorant.
Grilled fish, pancake syrup,
And steamy dishsoap.
Conversations overlap,
A collision of voices.
Mouths smack open and close,
Slurping and crunching between words.
Teeth tear into bits of meat and flesh.
The continuous clatter of utensils,
It's coming,
It always does.
The searing screech.
How they drag and scrape metal against ceramic.
I feel it in my teeth,
Under my skin,
My face,
It burns.
Look normal,
Look normal,
Look normal.
All the eyes,
Fixated on me.
"Hi there. What can I get you?"