Under Threat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind. – John Milton

It is not uncommon for fear to, indeed, make cowards of us all even if only temporarily. The courage of those remaining to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression is perhaps all the more remarkable then for its steadfastness.

As greater a tragedy is that the majority of ordinary Russian people, the likes of you and me, do not support Putin, but are given no choice and/ or fed misinformation.

As my late mother would probably have said say to any of us, but especially the likes of Vladimir Putin, - Sooner or later, comeuppance always comes to whom comeuppance is due.

UNDER THREAT

Whenever I feel threatened
by someone or events likely to catch up
with me sooner or later,
I choose to either run away or bury my head
in the sand, pretend
it’s nothing more or less than a bad dream,
of little or no consequence
so long as I keep my nerve, play deaf-blind-dumb
whatever the eventual outcome

Even so, I can’t deny I’m likely
to make an enemy of mind-body-spirit
by having it play hide-and-seek
with truth and home truths if only for as long
as it takes for any storm
to blow over, no harm to me for having run
for cover from the start,
if underestimating the power of human conscience
to create a copycat turbulence

No worse a storm than one soaking
a stalwart heart in a raging tempest of guilt,
tempted to run helter-skelter
for shelter and home comforts likely to assuage
such feelings as stirring
mind-body-spirit, threatening to divide
its all-in-one, daring me
me to dive in, risk whatever to save personal space
a sickening freefall from grace

Who dares plays hide-and-seek with me, Conscience,
seals their own comeuppance...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022