I can only run in so tight a circle
Only chase myself down so much

What of Pavlov, hand on the weapon
Who started this war on my body?

I want to choke it down, but
I’ve had enough of Pavlov’s dirty hands

"When was the first time the bell got you drooling?
Let’s find the start-and-end of the bell curve"

All I’ve ever known is the ringing
Running for the bell before I could even crawl

Hand-over-feet, heart-over-brain
hungry for something I had no words to define

The bell sits high on the shelf, silent threat
Same song, new tempo– faster, now

"When was the last time the bell got you drooling?"
(Posters of brains, pink bubblegum soft, line the wall)

Last week, can’t say why, my mouth full of oil
I swallowed it down and fanned flames in my belly