Panic

Excerpt

Through rolling Time’s interstices,

Which I thought neat and tightly sewn,

Sheer Panic pops –or is it Void?—

And rips a ragged hole so large

That Panic’s all there is.

Breath won’t come, I cannot breathe!

Except for short sharp anxious gasps.

Past and future are no more

The Now is nothing either,

Is death the only out? please end!

But wait, I live!

I’m not in charge, I need not be,

Of breath and body rhythm.

Unsteady, though.

I search for sense

To make of where I’ve been.

My life is not my own, I see.

My breath’s a gift to me.

It’s not for me to make Time flow.

I’m not secure in any Now,

And Void is always nigh.

What Peace I have

Is when I rest

In Source beyond my “I,”

And seek to live in harmony

With Source who lives through me.

The Panic is a wake-up call

To see if I’m on track,

Remembering that I’m not in charge

Of getting born nor back.

I live in Time a little while;

It need not be intact.

I’m held by grace, unending Love;

E’en midst my fears, I can relax.

A man named Enoch “walked with God”

Until, we read, “he was no more

Because God took him.”¹ Void’s redefined!

As Life with God forevermore.

As Time ticks on now, day by day,

The Void I feared now reminds me

That when I walk and talk with God

I do and do not cease to be.