it is a shock,
a discomforting dissonance
of pride
when the alternative
was suicide.
if they only knew
the fear and concealment,
the veneer
and swallowed expression,
corked up inside.
instead it popped,
loudly announcing its flight,
effervescent bubbles bursting
from intoxicating liquid anxiety.
expanding,
rejecting the form forced upon it,
spilling over
the hands gripping the neck,
making a mess.
the sizzle of pent-up potential
energy bursting from its pressurized confines
filling the space it can,
teeth bared,
foaming at the mouth.