Fear Cycle

Night-watch mounted, brooding sky
sallow stars, fear behind the moon,

    look into the narrowed night…

…of weather and cloud-heads,
horizons innocent of rain, dry lightning.

    Learn to tell friend from foe…

…and whose duty it is to contain freedom
preserve it, soul and body.

    Sentry by sentry, our eyes are open.



We are, but they are not;

build our barriers to protect,
keep fear inside…

    …alive, razor-edged, a blade.

Provision the parapets, stand behind them
with vigilance and strength, alone;

    wind across our thresholds, breathes.



Because of the things we love,
we both love and fear, and fear persists.

    We have not seen the enemy…

    …who knows we are blind…
    …who hears our beating blood…
    …who stands at the gates…
    …who talks in whispers…

The things we fear, we do not know;
we fear the things we do not know.

© BH, 2024

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State of the world: paranoia stalks the streets, stalks the corridors of power and the mean sods that we number ourselves among lurch from day to day, ignored, ravaged, looked down on.

So, here is the scenario. For some, the enemy gives them strength, fear gives them licence. They build our defences on lies in which the enemy is ever-present and invisible. We have to be afraid to let them do it.

Some of the above is a nod to Anaïs Mitchell’s “Why we build the Wall?” You can find it here… [https://youtu.be/e2pxbyf_tgE?feature=shared]