I’m a missile
Set to launch
Timed to the velocity of my heart
Inflated on self-hate
Like helium in veins
I float off
Like pollen and dust
Until asbestos falls
Irritant at my core
Give reason
For standing still.
Raymond Hoffman has a background in political science and Southeast Asian Studies. He has taught in China for many years and currently is a 988 operator in the Midwest. Poetry writing has been used by him as a coping mechanism for bipolar disorder for over a decade now, with previous publishing in Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Stardust Review, Sad Girls Club literary blog, and Cathexis Northwest Press.
Comments