Hmm. A wee bit stressed, are we?

There's so much more to me 
than anything they see.

I sit in silence, deafened by the roar of thoughts in my head.
One more sound, real or imagined, will send me screaming!
The shell may appear calm, but the center, the invisible center,
Is a raging, whirling vortex 
Ever active
Never still
Never ceasing 
or resting
Not for sleep, not for a moment.
Small-talk is torture
A soul-leaching energy sponge
Sucking up what little reserves i have.
Dates and deadlines and paperwork are just as bad
Needless details
Complicating
the already chaotic mass in my mind.