The Worm Of Doubt (Poetry)

Once it gets in
it infests —
wrecks everything

There’s nothing I can do
it wriggles on through
worries at me
incessantly

It undermines
even these few lines
chews away
the promise of
each new day

Never free of
its saw-tooth bite
gnawing
day and night
this mind-consuming pest
allows me only
scraps of rest

It picks and pecks
and brings
a weary kind
of sad resigned
suffering

While it infiltrates
my very core
drains away all purpose
more and more
there’s just one thing
I still don’t doubt
this worm
can turn
a quiet life
entirely
inside out