Keys Set gently On a table ... I look at them ... And smile ... Oh ... So that's What happened ... For all those years I thought I was driving ... But every time The road Opened Fear Reached over And turned The wheel ... Don't go there Something Might happen ... Don't say that They might Not love you ... Don't try that You might fail ... Don't trust them They might leave ... Don't question that You might Be wrong ... Don't look Too closely You might lose Who you think You are ... Turn here Stay here Lock this Avoid that Check again Think again Worry A little longer ... And I listened ... Not because I was weak ... Because I thought Fear Knew the road ... After all Fear Always sounded So certain ... Danger ALARM Turn ALARM Stop ALARM Hide ALARM ... And certainty Can sound A lot Like wisdom When you're Afraid ... But now Looking back Something Almost makes me Laugh ... How many times Did fear say Something terrible Was coming? ... And morning Came instead ... How many nights Did I spend Preparing For a tomorrow That arrived Quietly Carrying coffee And sunlight? ... How many lions Did I hear That never Walked through The door? ... Oh ... The lion Never came ... But fear Still collected The mileage ... ... I could be angry ... I could count The roads I didn't take The words I didn't say The chances I didn't risk The moments I spent Somewhere In tomorrow ... I could turn All of that Into another Thing To fear ... Regret ... AL— ... No ... Not this time ... I see it now ... That's enough ... I see Why you Took the keys ... You were trying To keep The person Alive ... The child Who needed love The body That wanted Another morning The name That wanted To matter The story That wanted To continue ... You weren't Trying To imprison me ... You thought Every road Had a lion ... And I believed you ... For a while ... A long while ... But look ... We're here ... Still Here ... After every What if After every Something might happen After every Roar After every Screen After every Picture of God After every Tomorrow ... Here ... Breathing ... And now I can finally See The time When fear Had the keys ... Not with shame ... Not with anger ... Not even With regret ... With Understanding ... Because seeing Who was driving Means I don't have To keep going Where fear Was taking me ... ... I pick up The keys ... Fear Doesn't fight me ... That's strange ... I expected A battle ... But fear Looks Tired ... Of course You're tired ... You've been Watching every door Every window Every face Every tomorrow Every shadow Every sound ... Trying To keep Everything From happening ... Come here ... You can rest ... If a real lion Comes I'll listen ... If the fire Gets close Wake me ... If the body Needs to move Sound The alarm ... That's your job ... And it's A beautiful one ... But tomorrow? ... I'll meet it Tomorrow ... What they Might think? ... They can Think it ... What I might Lose? ... I'll love it While it's here ... What if Something happens? ... Something Already is ... This ... ... The engine Is still running ... Same road Same world Same uncertainty ... But something Is completely Different ... Fear Is sitting Beside me ... Not Driving ... ... I put My hands On the wheel ... No map For everything ... No guarantee ... No promise That every road Will be easy ... And strangely I don't need one ... Because the point Was never To make the road Safe enough To live ... The point Was To live ... ... I look At fear ... Ready? ... Fear Looks ahead ... Quiet ... And for once Doesn't say What if ... The road Opens ... Morning light Across The windshield ... And somewhere Behind us A house Where fear Once lived Gets smaller And smaller In the mirror ... Until I can't See it Anymore ... I smile ... Fear Had The keys ... Had ... ... And we drive Into Morning
