(Written before WRITLIT grades were revealed...)

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

***

To live but suffer,

Or to die but not fulfill,

Recover. This poem offers a choice

Between love and fear. Easy

Vocabulary. Fear comes first

In the dictionary, the search

For meaning is frightening. You rethink

Your actions; fear is ever leading.

The chance at loss, the loss

Of hope, the dream begone. But life did happen

Once. You devoured the poultry at the banquet

Center, you drank the blood

Of the wine of poetry, you

Felt, you knew, you lived with

Every whiff of word in the wind, and love

Was translated into the words that lived

And died with you: the love of fear,

Stood you against redemption. Hello.

The fear you loved, the fear of love.

Shut your eyes, tight, and think not too much,

Too much. It might happen. One dream, one big

Dream, might die. But try one dream, dream one. You've lived one,

Dreamed. You know how it works, that when you suffer,

You recover, resurrect.