see?

they told you the cloth
tied taught over your eyes
was to protect you from what you may see 

then convinced you that
the shackles they bound 'round your wrists
were the world's finest jewelry

blind fear

the scales on my eyes
are the same scales on the fish
that swallowed a frightened man.
that man is me.
i am terrified.

i am not scared of shriveling
like your desert shrub.
i am not scared of perishing in the night.

i am scared of you.