Poems by
Smita Ramani

Fear

a poem by Smita Ramani

What’s that?
Was it something you heard! Or was it something you saw in the darkness?
You shut your eyes, close your ears, and put your head under a blanket.
You are afraid to see what you think you might see, if you open your eyes;
You are afraid to hear what you think you might hear, if you try to listen;
You crouch under the blanket ‘cause you are afraid to feel what you fear you’d feel,
If you stretch you limbs.
You lie there motionless and still, trying to ignore the fear that still haunts you.
You spend sleepless hours
Trying to forget what you heard or at least what you thought you heard.
You are afraid to open your eyes and discover the truth
‘Cause you are afraid you might find something you don’t want to know.
You lie there still, in your own ignorance
Forgetting that the biggest fear to dread is fear itself!