Five day wall

We stare blankly. We smile politely but not affectionately. We suppress.

Inside, adventure cascades against the walls of our skin and streams through our system. On the surface we are unflinching; this great dam, this shell, represses the swathes of emotion that swell more with each of the five passing days.

We nod. We discuss the weather. We withhold.

Eyes scorched and desert-dry through office blinds. Great pools of unrequited tears slosh patiently in our sockets. Animation no less than a frown but no more than a sigh.

We process. We pass on. We contain.

Muted pistons propel the heartbeat – it is strong but we are steady. Tension, nerves, feeling; all drowned, all droned. Alive with adrenaline, but focused with face pokered.

We wait on the watch. We pray for the signal.

Tick. Tock. 5.

We outpour. We unravel. We devour the weekend like a pack of rabid wolves. And then we return.