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today i feel

by rafa

@tempurafa on instagram


Today I feel my heartbeat in my mouth:

An old but welcome friend

who had grown so unfamiliar to me over time


The drumming in my chest

It's in iambic pentameter

It's like a clock that counts down to something I never knew I was dreading


A knife meets my lungs at every breath I breathe

There is an inscription on the blade:

"In for 4, hold for 2, out for 6"

a note from the artist-

his was written before my end-of-year english literature exam when i unconsciously grew so anxious in such little time that my heartbeat started to hurt me. the last line is a breathing technique a friend of mine taught me only minutes before the actual exam.

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