Game 79

CHI 89               MIA 78

Recently,
On our family vacation,
My mother held a meeting
To discuss her dying.

She is not dying now, but
It’s important to talk
About these things--
She says.

There are systems in place--
Forms to fill out,
Meant to reflect
The complexity
Of human emotion--

The complexity of fear.

A sliding scale
Turned binary.

No middles or maybes
For my mother.

On or off--
Life or death.

Simple.
Dramatic.

Having grown up
Raised by a generation
Who believed
All they had to fear was fear, itself--

She believed it.

And developed a keen fear
Of fear itself.

Terrified.

The last boogeyman.

Fear itself--
Lurking in the shadows,
Following down dark streets,
Cutting the brake lines,
Battling on building tops.

A lifetime of running
From running.

Hiding 
From hiding.

Scaring her to death.