{"sf1_id":1227263,"sf2_id":"5nzJGOdn","title":"Bruise Vision","author":"makyo","words":465,"posted_at":"2017-08-16T04:32:00.000Z","tags":["Hallucination","Poetry","mental health"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1227263-bruise-vision","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/5nzJGOdn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/cc/0a/cc0aaad1-14e8-4480-bbb1-b74d79429d44","description":"#2 of Poetry\n\nMaddy forgot her meds.","content":"## I\n\n**Geese level:** _Unnerving_ -- **Expect:** _anxiety_\n\nA hundred geese overhead --  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; A thousand --  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; A million --  \n  \nHeady scent of premonition.  \nAcrid tang of ill omens.  \nPortents.  \nToo much meaning  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; In too small a space.\n* * *\n\n## II\n\n**Geese level:** _Noise-Canceling Headphones_ -- **Expect:** _auditory aberrations_\n\nGeese are a byproduct of laminar shear stress  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Of two layers of phantasmagorical  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Newtonian fluids,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Which is why they're often seen on a plane.  \nA thin, sort-of Truth  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; From a sort of thin layer  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; geese chromatography.\n* * *\n\n## III\n\n**Geese level:** _Eldrich_ -- **Expect:** _red tint to vision; hot flashes_\n\nAs the dove bears the olive branch,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; so to the goose bears the wand  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; that withers all it touches.  \nA wand of nightshade,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Core of tainted silver.  \nA wand of obscure origin,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; The goose surely stole it.  \nMalice begets malice.\n* * *\n\n## IV\n\n**Geese level:** _Beyond Comprehension_ -- **Expect:** _confusion; nausea; sweating; racing pulse_\n\nWe know not the transgression,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; the origin -  \nWe know not the punishment,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; only the terror.\n* * *\n\n## V\n\n**Geese level:** _Excruciating_ -- **Expect:** _pounding heart; tunnel vision; racing thoughts; black-outs; blood pouring from ears_\n\nGeas  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Wing  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Dark  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Horizon\n* * *\n\n## VI\n\n**Geese level:** _Terrifying_ -- **Expect:** _tinnitus; piloerection; shortness of breath, uneven gait_\n\nI'd rather owls.  \nOwls, as though geese were turned inside out,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; made less evil.  \nStill portentous,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Still momentous,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Just less terrifying.  \nOwls are okay.  \nI can think about owls.\n* * *\n\n## VII\n\n**Geese level:** _Uncomfortable_ -- **Expect:** _subdermal itching; formication_\n\nLife within a comfortable grid.  \nParallel lines  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Interrupting narrowing circles  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Of birds in flight.  \nTravel in straight lines.  \nTurn at right angles.  \nTrace the roof of your mouth  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; With wet tongue.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I'm not afraid of geese anymore  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Because I can step on them now.  \nI'm big enough.\n* * *\n\n## VIII\n\n**Geese level:** _Birds_ -- **Expect:** _birds_\n\nRitual thinking  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Driven by geese --  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; By lines, by grids, by food --  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; By numbers and neat delineation.  \nAnd I'm left with questions:  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Why are they so portentous?  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Why the anxiety?  \nOr maybe:  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Did I take my meds this morning?  \n  \nFailing that,  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Can I just have the comfort of prayer  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Or the ecstasy of signs  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Without the bleak paranoia  \n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Over circling birds?  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Poetry","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1145473-completed-poems-from-missives.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1227271-every-time-i-fall.json"}}