“The Only Thing” by Alan Fox

Alan Fox

THE ONLY THING

                                                   “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
                                                             —Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First
                                                             Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

Place a wooden board
one foot wide by twelve feet long,
lay it on the ground
and I will briskly walk from one end to the other.

Place a wooden board
one foot wide by twelve feet long
between two ten-story buildings
and I won’t touch the sucker.

As far back as I can remember
I have been afraid of edges,
afraid of falling,
which is why I take no high chances.

I find it strange that many others—
painters, window washers, steel workers—
step on high
without a thought.

But as far back as I remember
I have never been afraid of money—
ten cents for a comic book
or ten million dollars for an investment.

The lesson, long hidden, is clear:
My fear is not out there.
It doesn’t belong to you.
It’s merely inside me.

from Rattle #30, Winter 2008

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