Note by the author: Before the pain arrives, there is a narrow window of time (the prodrome) characterized by increased brain activity in the limbic system and hypothalamus. For some migraineurs, this leads to heightened sensory and emotional experiences, with a surge in creativity.
I always try to write during this time—to find the gift in it.
Migraine Door by Miranda Grizio (science writer, poet, and migraineur)
They say it’s a storm—
Electric, ionic. I say
It’s more. Forming a rift
In the sky, my migraine’s
A door. Across synapses
Surges immense energy.
Depolarizing, discharging.
Lighting slicing through
Darkness an opening,
Heightening the senses.
As time slows, space
Grows vast before me.
At last the cerebral heart
Drums out its beat.
Suffering is an art. The
Suns and moons, vibrations
Between, gravitational
Pull, holding us all,
I hear. I merge with the
Music of the spheres.