A Poem: Times to Fear

The different metals zoom overhead, crashing into each other

Causing panic and chaos

They all say this is a time to fear

Could it be the end is near?

She sipped her coffee and read her book

Unbothered by people’s stories

For world crises is not her fear

She is terrified of the monsters within

There it goes, one more boom

While the world’s media creates a storm:

“Dubai is crashing, it is not safe!”

All she thinks, but with him, “do I still have a space?”

The war is upon us

We are not scared

We’ve experienced life here in its full bounty

To know the infinite blessings we have, to count

It’s been a year since they met

He held her hand, firm and strong

So her heart could melt without her noticing

With him, she let go and felt safe

Nothing could break this, no force majeure

But here’s the war and he did not text

Social media says don’t call your ex

But does he count when it didn’t even start?

They say it’s World War 3 that’s starting

Children lost their lives for good causes

She sits in her chair and wonders…

“Would I be more afraid of getting blown up…

Or losing him to Dubai’s army? – not of soldiers fighting for peace,

But of the beautiful women who spring up daily – looking for a good man…”

You cannot lose what you do not have

But was it not yours to claim when the year started?

Why not throw this one back and set him free?

Because he makes me feel safe you see.

She is strong, she is independent

She does not fear the troubles upon us

She cannot be broken by an outside forceHer inner dialogue has already shattered her

“Let him go”, a voice says within

“How – when he is my safe haven…”

She whispers “The war outside has started now.

Dubai keeps my body safe with a strong defense.

My soul has been under attack for decades now.

I’ve been struggling to fight the enemy inside

He is my army, he saw my goal

I cannot let him go

He is the safe space I’ve forever craved

I’ve been at war for so long

I don’t know what feeling safe is anymore

But he looks me in the eyes and says Trust me

And every muscle relaxes

I can finally let go of the breath I’ve been holding since I was 14, scared and stuck in a

car.”

They say these are times to fear

The war is upon us

A lot will die

I say to the 14-year-old girl today.

It’s okay to move on. It has been 27 years. You are safe now

I show her the interceptors fighting off missiles

The UAE defense strong and protective

And I whisper to her

“You can let him go. He has done his duty

He pulled you out of your own war

He stayed protective of you while you stumbled

You’re not out yet but you are on stable ground

He fights for others too, so let him go.”

The truth is the wars fought with weapons and armor can never scare her

For her, fear is being trapped in a car with someone who’s not a stranger – who

should be safe but is not

Her fear is losing the person, who protected her, too early

Her fear is not doing enough to save the life that depended on her

Her fear is that she is the biggest monster that no one sees – the abuser, the

narcissist, the self-obsessed

Her fear is she is the bad person that mothers warn their children about

That’s why her biggest fear is losing him.

He sees the girl she can no longer see

The one that was 13, carefree and did not know what fear is

He sees the girl she used to be

Without even knowing that girl

Her fear is if she loses him, she will lose that girl

It has been 27 years, she has been fighting to get back to that girl

The girl he helped her find again

She is not scared of wars fought with soldiers and weapons

She’s scared of wars her memories fight with her

She fears that the 13-year-old will come out and not be protected again

But he showed us both safety

So, this time….

This time I will be there

This time I will protect her

I will speak for her… I will fight for her

Cause she is me… and now is not the time to fear

By JoAnn DeSousa