Fear

(I was on an airplane flying to Holland and given the assignment to think of an emotion, associate it with a color, and write a poem.

In the fifth grade I was in a Californian earthquake and became crippled by fear of natural disaster in the coming months. It controlled everything I did, hindering me from going on piers, making me nervous in buildings with more than one story, and kept me awake and anxious when I tried to fall asleep. Jesus freed me from this fear. This lil poem is about how I used to feel.)




little feet dance 

the twisted, restless steps

of a worry-waltz known too well

bile yellow blinds

to hope beyond what’s shaken

can’t. trust. the ground.

“What if it falls

and I don’t see my father?”

eyes   dart   around

bile yellow fills

the vision of its victim

and keeps her voice down