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…
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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!
The pace is supposed to quicken as the reader progresses – an immersion into that adrenalin rush….