Fear

All things considered

Or all things aside

The things that we fear

Are not things to hide

Whether rationed or else

The things that we hate

Cannot be avoided

Are not that of fate

Are not that of love

Are not that of will

Do not care of race,

Sex, age, class, or ill-

ness consuming the mind

Or consuming the soul

Consuming your heart

To swallow you whole

If you could control

The fear that you feel

What would be left?

And what could be real?

Gone are the questions

Gone are the thoughts

Gone: inhibitions,

The ‘no’s and the ‘not’s

Vanish the darkness

Sweep up the dust

Brush off old cobwebs

Scrape off the rust

Away from the dark

You’ll not be afraid

Take all of the risks

For once you have made

A point to live on

You’ll find out a way

To reach to the world

And somehow you’ll say:

“It ain’t so bad

It won’t be that weird

I will live it through

I’ll not be afear’d.”