Fear lies cloaking me
06/04/2020
I'm hugging you to me like a blanket.
You have sneaked up on me again;
I told you to leave, you were becoming too familiar,
but you cajoled me into believing I needed you
to keep me warm against difficult decisions,
to hide me from risky moves across life's chessboard.
Clutching you to my mind, I'm tempted to believe that
worry will protect me from the step into the dark.
My ears sunk into your whinging words:
'Only failure, futility and pain await you.'
Nails gnawed to the knuckles, feet frozen to the floor,
body curled like a spring, arms gripping my chest,
I feel sheltered from your visions of hazards ahead;
but only for a moment because
you are a bear's paw, fur hiding claws,
you disguise the world outside,
cast false shadows on the road,
your woolly weight swamps the picture of the future.
Let me breathe the cold air of tomorrow.
Though life itself should fail, I'll break free
from your jaws and step forward exposed
and unencumbered into the mist.
I dispose of you, impostor, lying dream!
I'll embrace trust instead.