We are all afraid,
Of illness, of war,
Of failure, of darkness,
Of loss, of change,
Of death, of life,
Of ourselves, of others,
Of fear.

It is difficult,
Uncomfortable and painful,
To admit to fear,
To see it for what it is,
And not as anger, distrust, disgust,
Or as the perception of deviance.

We cannot control what others believe and feel,
Or the universe around us,
We can only strive to accept,
With open minds and hearts,
Learning to delight in diversity,
In reality as it is,
Not necessarily as we would wish it to be.

Until we see through our beliefs and assumptions,
Seeing truly,
With reason and not with fear,
Nothing will change.