ANXIETY

in a stew

functioning in a simmering pot of mixed anxieties

Tonja E. Betts
1 min readMay 31, 2023

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Photo by Amanda Troyer on Unsplash

contagious lil’ clevers— —
these nerves unnerving in my leisures.
my tongue in basic natter severs…
(but never stutters in my thoughts
nor in my dreams where i’ve fought.)

i set up wings for myself
up on this life i call “the shelf”,
but freight bestrews me right to left;
though, vict’ry keeps by rivulets
where the shining beading sets.

a sum too good is something off;
it’s as a stew without a broth.
sometimes a standard needs a sauce —
not quite piquant or bordelaise,
but more a tweak of olden ways.

fond reminders, fond remainders
turn like swifts too close to danger.
i’m blue-livid’s doppelgänger,
a touch-me-not in binding weed.



but looking up — — the sky’s still tweed.

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Tonja E. Betts

Scrabble addict, enthusiastic tea drinker, perfume bottle collector, Prince music lover, poesy paronomasia-ist, happy mom.