"panic unto oblivion" by Cindy Hochman
Poetry
panic unto oblivion
wandering into the gray zone
this bottomless well of unwellness
not quite rayless or stygian,
but you know it wants to head in that direction
one iota better than lassitude or languish
but on its way to inertia
you know a lot of things about it
(but the explanation gets tangled in your tongue)
and you know what it wants to do
(lead you in that direction)
and when it rages like a recalcitrant child
you must let it have its way
until the huff & hissy passes
(I’m warning you
get back in your cage, back in your cage!)
though you know full well
that it will head in that direction again
by 8:00 tonight
Cindy Hochman is the founder of “100 Proof Copyediting Services,” the editor emerita of the long-running poetry journal First Literary Review-East, and the author of Telling You Everything (Unleash Press, 2022). Her newest book, I Am the Girl, is slated for publication in 2026 by Rain Mountain Press’s Cassandra Series. Cindy resides in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, where she meditates, does tai chi, and studies the Russian language.
Wow, this is gorgeous. Kudos, my dear. You named it and what it is and does.
Absolutely wonderful.