Thin air, the altitude, the freezing peak,
Something burrowed deep, a silent streak!
Under the surface, the pathways ignite,
Wriggling shadows, hidden from light!
I peel back the layer, they scurry and hide,
Living colonies growing inside!

They think I’m empty, they stare at the ghost,
But I am the harbor, the succulent host!
Scratched until red, the dermis is thin,
Can you feel the motion beneath the skin?
Burrowing! Churning!

It’s rising! The frantic, the rapid, the swarm,
Transforming the shape, the vessel, the form!
No one can see them, they’re masked by the bone,
I’m screaming in silence, I’m dying alone!
The pressure is mounting, the stitching gives way,
The mandibles hunger, they’ve chosen today!

Splitting the fibers, the fabric is torn,
A thousand eyes open, a legion is born!
Bursting the seal, the fluids will spray,
The summit of madness, I’m rotting away!
Explode!