By Ric Hudgens

Fours years ago, I come down for breakfast to find my housemate tutoring her six-year-old daughter: Agitate! Educate! Organize!

Nod your head and acknowledge
your fear when it sits down
at breakfast some morning.

Fear is our necessary friend
watching our world
with wakeful eyes.

Always meaning well
fear places our safety
above all other concerns.

Prone to hyperbole, yes,
which is why we must
take and give counsel.

We must stare down fear;
draw the line that marks
this far, but no farther.

Without fear at the table
who knows what might happen?
But don't give away all your biscuits.

-- rdh
11-10-2016