Fear

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin

The devil is
A rat terrier
And a friend, a confidante,
Tells me she heard barking
Down a certain street
On my way home
A lot of barking

And I can see
the big doberman pinscher
in my mind's eye,
know that it will rip me apart.

So I meander through the alleys,
trying to find a different way, cold
afraid, on the street,

Until I face it,
if I die, I die,
and come eye to eye
with a small, leashed
---devil.

And laugh.