The Fear Of Going Dry
It's in all of us--
Somewhere,
That rational,
Irrational,
Fear of going dry.
Parents have it,
That constant worry that they'll run out of energy.
Teachers and philosophers
Have it.
That knowing feeling that they're just
One quip, one misstatement away from being disrobed,
Defrocked by all the true believers, become fools,
And powerless without
A stitch to cover their naked ignorance.
Oh, my God,
How the drunks and addicts
Have it.
Nightmare nightscapes,
Like being drawn and quartered
Over and over, And
My God,
The horror.
We poets have it, too--
One day,
We'll look up to find ourselves
Alone
Without our words to protect us.
Like hydrogen starved pine twigs, so much kindling,
In a California drought.
It's real,
This fear,
This unquenchable
Fear of going dry--
Tags: Poem
