Fear-2022-11-17

 
Fear (2022-11-17)
 
As pain is needed, so is fear—
Or else we’d all be dead.
But chronic pain is hard to bear—
And so is chronic dread.
 
What causes one to stand and fight—
And makes another flee?
What gives a person courage, strength—
And bends another’s knee?
 
So some are filled with bravery—
And even risk their lives.
We do not know what food it is
On which this courage thrives.
 
And some are cowards through their lives—
And some in later age.
The reasons for the cowardice
Are often hard to gauge.
 
We each may find ourselves alone
And faced with what’s ahead—
Without the tools to save ourselves—
Or paralyzed with dread.
 
Is there a potion or a pill
To rid oneself of fear?
Can this be cheaply bought—or is
The price-tag far too dear?
 
There’s breathing and there’s exercise—
And ways of calming mind
And body, both. For those who seek
These aren’t hard to find.
 
There also is the discipline—
The core, essential art
Of doing what needs doing that
Can serve to ease the heart.
 
But truly, there’s no remedy
That gives, for long, relief—
Except for what is gained through loss
And facing fear and grief.
 
2022 November 17, Thu.
Brooklyn, New York