Night Fears

What is it about the quiet hours -
the small hours after midnight?
When the silence outside rings
in my ears – the sounds of crickets
and other high pitched sounds
fear and anxiety comes, now,
from racing obsessive thoughts.

I won't be able to grasp
this poem, these feelings,
in the morning,
the feeling will be gone
or this state of mind
will have faded
by morning
and I'll be left wondering
what I was thinking.

My fears seem, now,
so immediate
and persistent
but unfocused.
Despite not knowing
anything that should
cause me to fear,
the fear is still
powerful.

Yet, because this has happened
many times before,
I know,
by morning,
the fear will seem
irrational
and be
gone.

by Bruce Whealton
July 8, 2009