Did You Hear That? It Came From Upstairs... (#130)
A spooky poem rooted in the science of psychoneuroimmunology - or, how our brains and behaviours can impact our health.
Part of Campfire Notebook’s format is a monthly poetry feature. As I continue to work on new poetry submissions offline, I still want to share examples of my work with you. These are poems created purposefully each month to share around the Campfire.
The Cry From the Attic
Most movies place daemons in basements,
but no — mine took root in the attic:
Glorious in the gold of the day,
but brittle in the chill of the dusk.
Bats shift; floorboards creak (these aging bones),
winds whistle through rafters without warning,
and lounging on the cerebral throne,
uneasy creatures tease control:
Tracing their pale knotted stems
along well-tread grooves smoothed by the tides.
Tender sulci spark sensitively,
craving the connection; no distinction
between the truth and possibility,
only seeking out a receptor.
Message received: a three dot missive
along a pallid wrist — the start of
a scream to be saved, that was buried
in stifled whispers in the atticYou may not have heard the name “psychoneuroimmunology” before, but you’re likely familiar with the concept. It’s a field of study that explores the links between thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, with the brain and immune system. Neurotransmitters and hormones that function well in times of acute stress - evading real monsters in forests - can wreak havoc over periods of long term stress on our bodies.
Eventually, under this exposure - like rocks smoothing out from repeated beats of ocean - the body wears down.
Eventually, the screams are finally heard - and you can only hope that you’re not too late to listen.
Thanks for reading this month’s creation, friends. You can check out other poems I’ve created for the Campfire here:
Invasive Species | The Tangent Function | A Spark That Spreads | Mango | Tangled Whispers | Springtime Elegy | Cannonball | Sugar Pants | Bracelet Days | Emerging
Spooky Science Library
2022
Fire extinguisher bombs | Body hacking | The case of Little Albert | Old pharmacy recipes
2023
Healing soups | Electroshock therapy | Disease make-up | Blood as art