Be Not Afraid

be not afraid

listen carefully

these are the rules

and yes, it is sometimes a game,

with eyes that won’t see perfection,

with questions easy to answer with language 

that doesn’t need to be deciphered.

there are rules for gravity

and antidotes for rules through imagination,

like believing stars are crabs and bears and hunters 

tattooed on night-black canvas.

every heartbeat carries stories

full with fears and joys

and epic tales of not knowing,

held with a Grace 

that makes room 

for simple awkward peace

to promise salvation 

or the will to ask, “what’s next?”

there are flaws, when fixed,

that still don’t equal love—

but let cupid throw the dart anyway

and see what sticks.

lean in and listen close

the next thought will always come.

what accumulates between us

are castles made of sand,

achievements that borrow 

from our dreams of love.

yet no season of doubt lasts forever.

for there is the audacity 

that every cranium

holds wildness and wonder—

prompting me to opt to dance 

and dodge a personal apocalypse.

ease into the vast relief

that time today is the beginning and the end

completely at ease with itself.

so be not afraid — 

there are angels of mercy in abundance

who also double as doulas of death.

—Ed Sancious