Dark Jazz by Paulette Hampton

Dark Jazz

I listen to dark jazz

In the shadows and corners

Of my mind

Its unrelenting beat

Thrums against my sanity

Threatening its dubious balance

My synapses are singed

languid trails of smoke roll up behind my eyes

Making it hard for me to see

And that riff

That damn riff

Is with me in everything I do

Yet it surprises me

Every

Single

Time

And sets my reality on edge

I want to exist without that riff

I want the thrumming to stop

But it will never go away

Because the dreadful music is orchestrated by my brain

With a misfire here

And not enough serotonin there

It keeps the disturbing beat

And forces me to dance