On the Brink

When Erikson said Identity versus Role Confusion

he meant you’ll remember your name but not your origin or your destination

and come to think of it I don’t know where we’re flying to either

so buckle up your seatbelts, folks,

expect to feel some turbulence

for the next few years and more

because when Erikson said Intimacy versus Isolation

he meant have a cup of tea on your own and pretend

your last six lovers didn’t leave you crying on the front doorstep alone

but I digress as we sit here contemplating the meaning of life

and whether learning about the layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus

will really help me see things any clearer

I think my proprioception is on something

because I don’t know how I got here or whether my feet

are still touching the ground because my head’s

up in space or maybe I’ve got early onset Alzheimer’s

and run out of acetylcholine to send to my hippocampus

because I used them up trying to remember

the intensity in his eyes and warmth of his lips pressed against mine

useless notions of romance when I could be telling you all about how cortisol is stimulated

by adrenocorticotropic hormone which is stimulated by corticotropin-releasing hormone

or the organs of the circulatory system and pathway of blood through the heart

only I don’t think my heart works anymore because

the lub dub of its valves has been replaced by an incessant

throbbing in my head marching to the beat of an imaginary drum

leading my frontal lobe to the Land of Insanity

so I think I’ll take some Ibuprofen

but it must be the wrong isomer

because the pain is still there and I feel

turbulent