To Be Not Afraid
To be not afraid is not
to clench teeth
bare claws
kick crawl dog your space
into a corner where you die.
The earth is not afraid.
She receives the sun
she explodes from within
she hurtles through space.
Fear does not dwell in the earth or the air.
To be not afraid is not to not care
to kiss it all off before it begins
to see the seed of death in all things
and yearn to face it,
yearn to have it over.
To be not afraid is to see
and to see is not to divide
and conquer the passing moments
to put each moment to the sword
to subject the river
to the strictures of the word.
To be not afraid is not
to square off toe to toe
with the moment after next
or, grabbing the moments
to shuffle them through
in frenetic anticipation of who
knows what?
To be not afraid is not
to clench teeth
bare claws
kick crawl dog your space
into a corner where you die.
The earth is not afraid.
She receives the sun
she explodes from within
she hurtles through space.
Fear does not dwell in the earth or the air.
To be not afraid is not to not care
to kiss it all off before it begins
to see the seed of death in all things
and yearn to face it,
yearn to have it over.
To be not afraid is to see
and to see is not to divide
and conquer the passing moments
to put each moment to the sword
to subject the river
to the strictures of the word.
To be not afraid is not
to square off toe to toe
with the moment after next
or, grabbing the moments
to shuffle them through
in frenetic anticipation of who
knows what?