Zig-zag

By Kevin Gu

he lags.

like the kind of lag

that causes a video game

to glitch

and static to run across

glowing computer screens,

audio blaring like zig-zags

of scratchy guitar strings

like the kind of lag

that comes with exhaustion

after hours of encasement

in a rocking, shaking

metal chunk stolen from

the ground and

forced to fly

like the kind of lag

that muffles minds until it’s uncertain

whether he hears painful silence

or screams created by

the very instincts of his

own unraveled brain

like he wants to hear

something so he can be afraid

and feel glistening sweat

run down the back of his neck

and they would hear it too

so then, they won’t

call him crazy again.

he is exhausted

from the lag that surges

through his cells like electricity

but instead

of electricity it is

vanilla pudding,

almost liquid but not quite,

and his veins

are open circuits waiting

for something to connect them

so he can work again.