claustrophobia

Gothic nightmare of Edgar Allan Poe:
Trapped in a pine box six feet below!
Tranquil sleep awakens to fright:
No more movement, breathe, or light!

Gothic nightmare of modern day life:
Material, personal, emotional strife.
Hypnotic routines are suddenly broken:
No more freedom for the awoken.

Infants are comfortable in the womb:
Isolated slumber in safe cocoons.
Then their eyes open to the black,
Provoking the flight to human contact.

Babe’s first reach toward mother’s breast
Is his hands first stretch away from loneliness.
When babe grows up he’ll perceive a shock,
Of other hands squeezing him into a box.

Surreal illusion of Edgar Allan Poe:
Dead and alive at six feet below.
Claustrophobia is in the conflict
Not in the structures of boxes or crypts.