The operating manuals,
Those written by Perennials,
Say Fear is momentary.
At least, it’s how it’s meant to be.
A flood around the village? Run.
A tiger in the bushes? Turn.
A monkey stealing baby? Fight.
A snake around your elbow? Bite.
Your Fear comes to save your life,
Evaporates beyond the strife.

But Fear in a comfort world
Dissolves in us like teabags twirled
Throughout our plain sobrieties
To colour as anxieties
Around our simplest discomforts.
It takes us all our best efforts
To rid ourselves of remnant Fear
And make some space for thinking clear.

It doesn’t help that marketers
Deliver messages of Fear
To keep us in that danger mode,
So we can buy their latest load.
It doesn’t help that men in power
Divide us from their irovy tower
To keep us in that flighty state
To vote for them as they dictate.

We try to stay away from Fear.
We play it safe, wear masks of cheer.
But this is not sustainable.
Alternative attainable
Is learning how to live with Fear,
To make it comfortable, dear.
To drink it daily on our own,
Acquire taste, accept the burn.
To learn its texture, aftertaste,
To drink our water Fear-laced.
Which cannot put us out of ease
Can never make us fight or freeze.

But how to drink these daily Fears?
You go the things you’ve dreamt for years.
The art you’ve wanted to create.
The seeds you want to cultivate.
You cut the safety bungee cord
And make the leap on own accord.
So, when you face the other side
You see it was too magnified.
Of course, at times you’ll fail and pay
The price of throwing ease away.
But check what you are paying now
By letting Fear weight your brow.