headwaters of fear

The Mississippi started as a trickle in Itasca

I puddled through it

skipped rocks at its banks 

canoed down its trail

swam in its stream

ate fish from its waterbed

I feasted on the Mississippi's beginnings

with spirited laughter and a camper's hunger

Mark Twain gave me a different story of 

two boys adventuring through Hannibal

I spent an evening on a paddle boat

wondering where Huckleberry was

and wondering where the raft 

floated down the wide 

rustic river that is so very Mighty

The beginnings of the river

led to a now polluted river

its fish cannot be eaten in places

its waters can't be waded

its smell burns nose hairs

and Huckleberry and Sawyer

well, their raft will never sail again

The river's been infected

and it's Mightier than ever

Fear began in headwaters

much like the rocky trickle

that I played in 

Fear flooded the land

polluted peaceful villages

and spread across the world

in raucous oceanic waves

it's an epidemic 

Painting anxiety on people

with words of hyper energy

filling the holes of openness

engulfing children innocent to

anxiety but magnetized by energetic

shifts

Fear began as a trickle 

and as people clung to its

magnetic power

floating down with it

clinging to a life preserver

not knowing how to swim

not knowing how to settle

not knowing where to place

sandbags, not realizing the 

epidemic, not realizing the 

natural disaster that fear

would be

a virus that started as a

trickle,  blew up bombs

destroyed nations

obliterated cultures

eliminated species

polluted streams

and closed doors to peace

If there was one way to solve

world peace it would be to 

acknowledge fear, let it trickle

but build damns 

conserve its harboring forests

respect its power

dillute its poisonous watering holes

ration its food

respect its knowledge

meditate on its resolve

feed life with love and compassion

forgive

Forgive fear

without that we will forever be flooded

we will forever be chasing our tails