art apropos

I’m on the edge today,
Teeth grinding,
Muscles twitching,
I’m more bobblehead 
than man today.

Long walks in the heat
Make no difference.
My upper lip dances
To a different tune.

Invisible fingers grip
My fingers and neck,
My eyelids burn like
I’m waking through the night.

I reach for relief
In the vacuous depths
Of the Cloud,
But there are no angels,
Only pretenders.

My mind grasps at faces, 
like a dying man,
Desperate, 
but there are no warm embraces,
Only cold shoulders.

It builds and builds and builds.
My chest feels
Like a balloon stretched
To breaking point.
But then there’s you.

Your eyes prick the balloon,
Your arms twist the valve open,
Your kisses smooth the wrinkles,
And instantly I perk up
Like a newly starched collar.

Where were you?