Adrenalin – Fight or Flight the Modern Way

The quiet of equilibrium

Shattered by a burst of adrenalin 

Blood redirected, only for what’s affected

Miniature moments of evolutionary change

Rapid in their occurrence, eyes scanning

Balances unbalanced, arteries expanded

Muscles energized; their sinews filling with human nectar

Neurochemicals released in response to unknown stress

Hypothalamus injects the pituitary gland

Adrenocorticotropic hormones form the ranks

Heartbeat racing, rapid breathing

Like an emerging moth from its cocoon

Straight from the comfort zone to the danger zone

Stimulated by the unexpected, eyes scanning

Shifting from positive to negative

Reaction times quicker, primal forces taking over

Fight or flight, live or die, escape to return another day

Hyperarousal of sympathetic nerves

Liberating stored reserves for muscular reaction

Body shaking, tunnel vision, pupil dilation

Auditory exclusion, lack of salivation

Secondary functions put on hold

In preparation for violent muscular reactions

Legs moving like auto pistons, perfect in rhythm

Arms swinging, fists balled, eyes scanning

Mental calculations and preparations

Stomach tightening because of the frightening

Emotions unpredictable, anxiety and aggression

Intensity without specificity

Perceived control dealing excessive wild cards

Commonality, negativity, complexity, receptivity

Understanding the evolutionary psychology

Responding to the negotiation

Engaging self-protection

Piloerection chills, invoking feral reflexation

Abated panic, fear held in check, eyes scanning

Searching for the exit, the pathway home

Least resistance, open ground, where to run

Friendly fear gives power to the powerless

It’s the solution that deals with the anticipation

Conditioning to converting, eyes scanning

No longer plagued by wild predation

Exchanged for modern interpretations

Fight or flight, wrong or right, day or night

Human reaction when danger in sight

Shifty characters with sultry grins

Shadow people emerge from within

Deadly attraction and mechanical aberrations

Monsters with two legs and vile dispositions

Terror mostly in our minds

Eyes scanning, what we find

Everyone the nefarious kind

Nothing to fear, but fear alone

Adrenalin will get you home…

 

R J Schwartz
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R J Schwartz

I write about everything and sometimes nothing at all. I'm fascinated by old things, rusty things, abandoned places, or anywhere that a secret might be unearthed. I'm passionate about history and many of my pieces are anchored in one concept of time or another. I've always been a writer, dating back to my youth, but the last decade has been a time of growth for me. I'm continually pushing the limitations of vocabulary, syntax, and descriptive phrasing.

2 thoughts on “Adrenalin – Fight or Flight the Modern Way

  • January 24, 2017 at 1:53 PM
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    Your mastery of phrases always amaze me, Ralph. I love the lines:
    “Reaction times quicker, primal forces taking over
    Fight or flight, live or die, escape to return another day”

    And the last two lines bring it home. Well done, excellent piece, tense and breathless. I love it!

  • January 24, 2017 at 5:04 PM
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    The pace is supposed to quicken as the reader progresses – an immersion into that adrenalin rush….

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