BEFORE FEAR HAD A NAME

Before there was a word for it Before anyone said Be careful Before anyone said Be afraid Before heaven had a threat Before hell had a name Before tomorrow existed Inside the mind There was a sound Beyond the fire A branch breaking Eyes opened Breath stopped The body knew Before thought knew Listen Something is moving In the darkness The heart begins Faster Faster Faster Not because darkness is evil Not because Life is afraid Because the body Was built to remain Run Hide Fight Freeze Survive There was no shame in it No weakness No torment Only a message Something is here Pay attention And when the footsteps disappeared The heart slowed The muscles released The animal drank again The night became Only night Fear had done its work And left It did not follow the animal Into tomorrow It did not lie awake Remembering the sound It did not wonder What if it comes back What if it finds me What if tomorrow What if What if What if No That would come later Something happened Inside a creature That could remember yesterday And imagine tomorrow The sound beyond the fire No longer needed To be there We learned To hear it In our minds And the body Still believed it The heart raced The breath shortened The muscles tightened But this time Nothing moved Beyond the fire Nothing stood In the darkness Nothing was chasing us Except A thought And for the first time Fear remained After the danger Was gone The servant Did not leave It stayed Waiting Listening Watching And somewhere Deep inside the human mind Two small words Were forming Words that would someday Build prisons Without walls What If What if What if What if And fear Had learned To survive Without danger