Fear

 

                                                          

Fear Lurks in the familiar

and he finds comfort in my darkness.

With not enough heart to deny my old friend, Fear,

a safe place to settle,

he makes himself at home with me

every night.

Fear prepares my bedtime story

and I follow his bespoke narrative.

Fear works with avoided truths

and he knows what I can see

when I glance into a shadowed alley.

And he knows what I feel

when I detect an unknown presence close behind me.

Fear arrived again last night

and I ushered him into the darkest corner

and he coaxed me in with him too.

He introduced me to another unfamiliar room

and promised no surprises

as my limbs stiffened

and my mind desperately choked

into a comfortable lethargy.

Fear taunts me with the same narrative every night.

The impulsive smother,

the frozen submission,

and the frantic search for refuge from a person

I've not yet been acquainted with.

Fear made a mistake last night,

He forgot to turn off the light in the room he placed me in.

The light grew

and it's warmth unfroze me from my fate.

My body loosened and lifted me away,

something I knew Fear wouldn't have the power to do.

I was honest with Fear last night,

I said

Light offers me more than darkness

and I'm curious to hear another narrative.

I'm tired of being told the same story every night,

and I think it's time you give yourself a rest.

Fear surprised me for the first time last night.

His face grew softer

and he came out of the darkness

and that's when I realized 

that it was my turn now

to tell fear a bedtime story