riot act

She waits and watches,
hears the pounding of my heart grow stronger,
feels the hairs on my arms stand at attention,
catches the breath in my throat
as my thoughts blur and warp
like heat rising off asphalt on a summer day,
and in that pause -
she pounces.
This voice in my head: the champion of all my previous bad decisions,
my endless hesitations, tumultuous fears and
plaintive desperations rises up and
reads a riot act in violent volume
reverberating through my skull,
"Slow down! Don't be stupid. Don't believe!
Don't hope! Don't trust the moment! Don't rush in!
Don't set yourself up for a fall."
And with those words I shake and quiver,
falling, fading, becoming lesser.
And then you whisper my name like an incantation,
press tender lips to mine like medication,
and silence the siren's call
which would dash me against the rocks of my insecurities
and thus, you lead me to safe harbour.