Fear has strength. It grips,
squeezing away the breath of dreams,
crushing the faith of heroes
down in the depths of memory’s heart.

Fear has teeth. It gnaws,
cracking apart the bones of reason,
sucking out sanity’s marrow
behind the back of the mind’s eye.

Fear has scales. It sneaks,
slithering through outgrown skins,
brushing the clenched darkness
knotted in the stomach’s pit.

Yet endure, endure for

Hope has wings. It flies,
feathered on the morning breeze,
carrying that single olive twig
above the fear in the waters below.

And all floods recede,
and all floods recede.

© Aaron Brown, all rights reserved.
(with nods to the classic by Emily Dickinson and to the Book of Genesis)