I watch my hands shake as I sit in public,
Listen to the way my voice stutters when I speak

I feel the storm swirling in the pit of my stomach
As a bead of sweat drips down my cheek.

I realize the anxiety is getting worse.
But what can I do to feel sane again?

Is there something I can take to ease this curse?
The expression I wear impassive, then

Anxiety's invisible claws take hold of my neck,
A familiar sting takes place in my eyes.

I just need something to ease it all, just a speck.
The whirlwind within only beginning to rise.

I beg and plead for some way to escape it
Yet, my body takes it as a miscommunication.

My panic increases tenfold as I neglect to admit,
These feelings take my all as I desire medication.

~a poem by Elizabeth Kay on social anxiety~