Panic Doesn’t Knock

It just arrives,

kicks the door in my chest

and scatters my breath across the floor.

My thoughts trip over each other,

every option feels wrong,

every second too loud,

too fast,

too much.

I stand still while everything spins

heart racing ahead of me,

hands shaking like they forgot

what they’re meant to hold.

People say “just breathe,”

but my lungs don’t recognize the command.

They’re busy convincing me

that something is terribly wrong

even when I can’t name it.

I don’t know what to do

when my body panics before my mind.

I don’t know how to choose

when fear is yelling over reason.

So I wait.

I survive the moment

one heartbeat at a time,

reminding myself

quietly,

stubbornly

that panic lies,

and I am still here.

And even lost,

even shaking,

even unsure

I am not broken.

I am human

learning how to stand

in the middle of the storm.