Fear is a task master hard to serve,
Offering protection from what life demands,
Back stepping a way of life,
Slowly draining freedom dry,
Into a corner back into, with only one escape;
Moving forward into life once again, if one dares.

Fear faced, backs down,
With anxiety and anger next to contend with;
A hard road to find peace,
Layer upon layer to discover,
The path to freedom
Not for the faint hearted.

Overly concern of what others think,
When in fact they really don’t.
Think, that is, about others overly much,
Only in passing, like a mist, then forgotten.
This conceit of the fearful, and anxious, and angry,
Much ado about nothing at all, a form of insanity.

So common that it is often taken for prudence, this craziness,
Giving others power that they neither, seek nor want,
The gift given none the less.
So the circle continues with allowing this tyranny to live,
Something really not real,
Unless one gives it life.

Those who gossip not worth the listening,
People often fearful; jealous of what others have,
Or are.
Often petty, mean spirited,
Deserving our pity and compassion
Respect and trust however not.