Nervequake

Mount Everest at it highest peak
nor e'en its coldest windy breath
can touch the chill
iv'e lately felt
and wanted so much to lose
but it never seems to change
except for the times
i spend inside the stoned walls
of my own private castle
where the floors are not in a tremor
and the walls are not a ringing pain
and the animals around me
show their teeth
but only in a friendly grin. . . .

1980