My name is fear.
Yes, I am that guy.
My name is fear and I have a complaint,
A bone to pick with all the talks of blame
That label me a straitjacket,
a restraint, a limit,
an enemy to conquer,
a hurdle to sprint over,
a goddamn stumbling block,
handcuff of dreams,
a black pit consuming your leap of faith-
heard enough, I want to set the record straight.
I am an emotion, nothing more, nothing less.
I am a feeling, timeless, ageless,
Yet a tiny tot who knows nothing–
About that untrodden path you are taking,
About that market that may rise or crash,
About ‘hey, is that pimple a rash?’
About the truth that you want to say
With all conviction keeping silence at bay.
I am just a warning for you to prepare,
to not clutch at straws, gasping for air
when outcomes flood and leave you adrift.
I am a newsflash, a headline, a paradigm shift.
What I am not is an excuse
To favour silence over conscience,
guilt over redemption,
defeat over protest,
sticks and stones over life,
hate over basic understanding, forget love.
My name is fear- I am an imperfect argument,
Not to be ignored, but to embrace
Not to be blindly followed, just to be reasoned with.
My name may be fear but you are stronger than me.
My name is fear but you are better than me.
My name is fear and you need not fear me.

– Adithya Nair Satheesan