Quiet fear.

[Betty]

God, I am afraid. Not just of one thing but of many.
It is not panic, just a quiet fear that has crept into places
where I usually walk unafraid and is standing between me
and the people who wish me no harm.

There is good reason for some of the fear, God.
But most of it is unreal. I know this and yet I cannot seem
to throw it off.
And whether real or imagined, it makes me less able to be myself.
Take this fear from me, God, that I may move freely in your world
and be more nearly the person you wish me to be.

                                                                                            Avery Brooke