CXCV: to those who dim the lamps

They say this worry is a heavy crime,

that I should send it off without a vow.

But, to it I was heeding all the time

you came to know me—what’s so different now?

Is it not that the worry is a block

to bar some wicked something that I see?

Have all my fears been something you can mock?

Or just the ones that make you kind to me?

For anyone can tell what’s fear too far.

Nobody needs another to say that.

But worry often sets a healthy bar

that’s mocked before it’s given tit for tat.

To all who fear, speak to it with your heart.

Be kind, and it will kindly do its part.