The Drum Beats

 

The drum beats

Slowly, slowly

Building crescendo

As the rhythm grows

Like a distant thunder roll

Creeping closer

It grows in intensity

Climaxing in an ear-piercing clash

I grasp my ears, desperate to shut out the sound

My body folds itself in two

Like a penknife closing

Every cell penetrated by the beat

Tense, anxious, stress-filled

And it hangs there, the tension

Like a hummingbird paused in flight

And like the sea crawls back from the land

It eases, sickeningly slowly

As though it never wants to leave me

Pensively I stand upright

My heart beats a staccato rhythm

Each solitary thump in tango with the drums

Reaching its nadir at rock bottom

As the drum taps eases

To its end