Fear loves to spread.

Fear loves to breed.

Fear has his minions that obey his every command.

He’s on the news everyday living

As a terrorist, a rapist, or a shooter.

“Florida looks like a good place to grow,” he said.

He greedily snatches 17 children into his hands and says,

“You will do my handiwork.”

And he succeeds.

Fear manifests into the confidence of the 17’s loved ones

That said they would never

See their child’s headstone.

Fear possesses the minds of the 17’s classmates

As he plays the images of dead bodies and replays

The sounds of gunshots and the cries of the dying and dead.

He persists in the injured as they touch the scars

That are like tattoos they never wanted.

The big men offer prayers and condolences that are merely spit upon.

When will they act? When will this end, or at least, subside?

Fear will never relent, and I know he’ll never commit suicide.

He whispers doubts into our minds;

“You can never be safe as long as I’m alive.”

Fear has had control for millenniums;

The power was never meant to be his.

We must either crush or be crushed,

And I wanna live.