a flake here, a flake there

piece by piece

it piles on

an ask--a flake

a request--a flake

a mess--a flake

i should have tended to those things long ago, before they became giant flakes falling without care or note

i should have said "no" or "stop" or "wait" before those tiny crystals became snowballs flying at my face

i feel overwhelmed and anxious

i feel worried

i feel weak

those snowflakes are so pretty one by one

but combined they make something i cannot out run.