NYCTOPHOBIA
—The fear of night or darkness.
I’ll stay awake, stay up all night,
Keep wide my eyes and cocked my ears;
I’ll keep the whole damn room within my sight,
The phone in my left hand, a gun in my right;
I’ll lock up the doors and windows tight,
Let no one, nothing get in here
Until the shadows disappear,
Until the morning brings a light,
Until I can see what I should fear.
—from Rattle #26, Winter 2006
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Patrick Ryan Frank: “In my work, I’m interested in issues of control: how people master their fears, or else are mastered by them; how a poem’s movement can push against its structure; how meaning can determine shape. Essentially, life is composed of conflict and tension, and poetry is the art of struggling beautifully.” (web)
