At Home with Vertigo

by Jan Napier

inside my head a spin cycle that won’t click off.

                       sideways lurch       looping swoop       eyes shut      blurry whirl

throat hosts acidic rise of tide.

                      glance       ceiling swings       lampshade swims       jellyfish in a creamy sea

tissue box yachts table top       white sail yaws window-wards.

 

                      waking tilts gravity       synch slips

and again weightless       sheets fisted       I sway       falling       orbital.

                      they’re not making maps any more       no bread crumbs lead me back.

sliding palm along plaster      steps drunken butterfly flight

                      I high wire walk hall carpet

my jeans a blue handstand on the clothes horse.