I fear that we have failed
I fear every mistake unrecognized and repeated
I fear every moment squandered
I fear for the waste of intelligence on gain and pain
I fear compassion dumbed down to tiny yellow hugging emojis
I fear the death of humanity
I fear the lies, the fabrications suffocating our nations
I fear desensitization
I fear the power of one evil twist flipping the switch
I fear malice, so gracefully dressed in good will
I fear centipedes, freeways and losing the ones I love
I fear the silence of words unspoken, hearts unopened
I fear robots knocking at my door to deliver my mail…. or kill me
I fear for all I have not done, for all I have not given
I fear we had the gift of saving each other but we didn’t open it
I fear there is more and
I fear we will never know it
For Poetics at
Sarah has given us a rhetorical device, anaphora to play with in our poetry.
I fear you may be right. I love the line about compassion and emojis!
Yes, the emoji line is great, says so much – and the ending. The anaphora works really well here, it’s a litany. Disturbing, powerful, sadly true.
Well, this is one of the most comprehensive poems about fear I’ve read …. loved it! I share a few of them!
So much to fear… and still we live (and thrive a little bit too well)… great poem
So many things to be fearful of – your anaphoric poem is perfect for expressing it. The last two lines are the most chilling of all …
Those last 4 got me in the feels. Those are the things I fear most.
The last 2 lines, gosh, stunning.
Thanks for dropping by to read mine
Much💜love
Oh–those last three lines especially! Powerful.
(I did laugh at the robots though.)
My goodness this is powerful! I too fear desensitization!
Late to the posting and reading too. So glad I landed here. So many memorable lines and an especially powerful ending.
“I fear compassion dumbed down to tiny yellow hugging emojis” has a lot to say in many ways.
Love the emoji line, and the terror of the last line. Excellent work, Mish!