The Power of Fear

I've heard it said by scholars, fear can keep you safe.
They cite history as an example when this point they make.

Fear according to Webster is a lot of things.
Horror, panic, trepidation, fear is even pain.

Everyone, they say, will experience fear at times.
An emotion we all have inside, a feeling, yours and mine.

Fear, I guess, has purpose to keep us all alive.
Protected by their office, some say "For fear he did survive."

They use the power of language, use it as a disguise,
to hide their inner truth, their narcissistic rise.

In the air, safe and sound, while men are dying on the ground,
they wait until the dust has settled, then order the plane down.

A rush to find their favorite writer, makeup, a phony frown.
It's time to face the camera, solidify their new crown.

This is you nation, I do rule, my job to keep you free.
Come forward young men, fathers, husbands, your duty is to me.

Your families will be proud of you, you're making history.
If you must die too young, the cause is for good you see.

The price of freedom has no limit, a life cannot erase
your name forever frozen, in a monument of brass encased.

All who now morn you and struggle to survive,
all who still have hope of finding you alive,

will file past your honor, hold your baby tight,
whisper in your daughters ear, for freedom he did fight.

Then place a rose beneath your name, kiss the hallowed spot,
wipe the tears of grief away, tell your child to weep not.

Your father is a hero, he did his country proud.
Somehow we will go on, you're the man of the family now.

I stand apart mesmerized and watch the steady stream.
Place hand to mouth, control my fear, try hard not to scream.

My brothers and my sisters, consumed by only fear,
like sheep to pasture, huddle close, their empty eyes make clear

the cause, though for wrong reasons, will continue to justify
the evil fear in those who live their life on high.

My own tears now are streaming down my ashen face.
They blur my sight, consume my strength, determined to replace

the power of truth I hold within as I stifle my need to run,
stepping closer I see his name, my heart, my soul, my son.

The air leaves my body, my brain evaporates,
on wobbly legs, I join the flock, now my eyes too are blank.

The warmth of the flock comforts me, my thoughts no longer clear,
I too have been defeated by the power, the power of fear.