Fear - By: Selene James

Fear is a dreaded, damned thing.

It starts as a simple fling,

but then it floods,

your mind, heart, and soul.

Fear leaves you tired and scarred,

scorned and burned.

Fear leaves you depressed,

and broken.

But what could make the fear,

And dreaded tears go away.

I was not entirely sure.

But now I know it was you.

A gorgeous flame,

That was lit under the land fear claimed.

Suddenly it’s all back,

It was a courageous deed.

A feat only you could complete.

Now my fears went away,

Slowly they try to break me once again,

But then they disappear because,

There you are,

My sweet, caring star.

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

The poem is about overcoming fear because someone helping you. Fear to me is my social anxiety. Although I did receive help from many people there was one person who supported me until I was in a better state of mind. This person is my star. This person lit my fears on fire and destroyed them so I could get better.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

I wanted to thank the person this poem is for. I wanted to express my gratitude to them for helping me overcome my anxiety. I wanted to show how my fear has taken my mind to truly emphasize how much this person helped me. I always refer to this person as my Star so I wanted my fears to be burned rather then destroyed in any other way, since stars are giant balls of heat.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I wanted to express my feelings for this person and show how thankful I am for them. It’s always easier for me to express these feelings through poetry.

Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this? (optional)

Whenever you’re writing about emotions you felt always try to make it sound genuine even if your work is heavily fictionalized. Readers can usually tell if the emotions are genuine because of how you describe them.