The Name is Fear.

Sweet songs,

   sifting.

Hold on,

   hope’s in you.

Dear child,

   keep your lips widely speaking.

Honey,

   please smile.

 

The name,

   Brings me back to preschool,

      When I couldn't speak.

I needed speech therapy to train my undeveloped mouth and brain.

 

The name

   Reminded me of ocean and veneer-

      A calmly wild covering of waves that stuck to my tongue

         And the t-t-t-taste of his sweet

            Name is s-s-s-salty,

               Gritty, fine, concise.

 

The name is hard for me to digest.

   It c-c-c-crawls

      From the tip of the pen on the letter N,

         Curves at the A above my chest,

             Into the mountains of the letter M,

                And exits the name through the E's period.

 

That name,

   wraps around my brain,

      A million miles,

         faster than the nerves sent

             Down my spine-

             Chills, fever,

                Multiple sclerosis got my mind dysfunctioning.

 

This name-

That name-

The name-

This ink is bleeding-

Relapses remitting repetition-

   Body's numbing and tingling-

      N-A-M-E.

 

The name,

   Is entitled anonymous.

Let's say quiet...

How'd about isolated?

Implanted?

An inception?

Stutters to my sl...sl...slurrrrrred speech,

   Tripping over his name in my big dreams.

 

This name,

   has sticks and stones

      That will shake my bones

         Out of my skin-

         Break this membrane

            And expose that the n-n-n-name---

Is only turning the wheels of my stomach.

   The invisible virus

      that develops every person’s day.

 

The name,

   is F-E-A-R.

FEAR,

   sneaks at the door

      to the core

         of what matters to us the most.

FEAR

   is F - False E-Expectations A - About R - Reality.

FEAR,

   makes our Faith Exit and Run.

FEAR,

   is Forgetting Everything And Reacting.

This whisper,

   is False Evidence Appearing Real.

 

FEAR,

   does not have to be our friend any longer.

Why not,

   we take a stand -

Face Everything And Rise.

Realize

   that assumptions make us fall into

      deserted destinations.

   and makes it hard for us to speak

      truth against lies,

      to vent our w-w-w-worries and bottle up the stress.

Realize

   that this creates addictions

      to medicate the emptiness as a solution.

 

And a cure to FEAR,

   is to be that unexpected smile on the street,

      a “good morning” to her day,

         the little light of encouragement while all is dark,

            the open door for a broken heart.

The hope

   that you can be put into one piece again

      and your v-v-v-voice, counts.

 

FEAR,

   is just an expectation making you lower

      than who you are meant to be.

Fearless,

   brave,

      outstanding,

         creative,

            intelligent,

               beautiful.

Because,

   you are.

 

Sweet songs,

   sifting.

Hold on,

   hope’s in you.

Dear child,

   keep your lips widely speaking.

Honey,

   please smile.

This poem is about: 
Me
My community
Guide that inspired this poem: 

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