Poets Corner

Musings at the Kitchen Table
          Spring 2007

Afraid of failure
Afraid of success
Afraid of perfection
Afraid of the mess
of shoulds and supposes
mistakes and long noses
Afraid of shadows
but also delight
Afraid of not living
before the dark night.

Is this true
or an egoic lie
Will I know I live
before I die?
All is well, all is well
I say to myself
and put all my dreams
right back on the shelf.

P.S.
What if I have no dreams
No urge for perfection?
What if this FEAR is
merely rejection
of all that I can do
right now and right here.

(and, what if She says,
“Just enjoy it, my dear.”)

Anne MacArthur

--Anne lives in Portland, Oregon, where she says she is “being shown the truth piecemeal.”