Childhood Fears

Woke up tangled in covers, heart racing, unsure,

drowning in dreams where I can't find the shore.

Quicksand pulls gently, but I laugh with a sigh,

it's only a whisper, I won't sink, won't die.

As a child, it was panic, the slip of the ground,

stories of sand swallowing, fear would abound.

Now I welcome the weight, the cozy embrace,

a surrender to burdens, no hurry, just space.

Each grain slips between fingers like time drifts away,

but now I am anchored in this quiet ballet.

The threat of the past, the worries I wore,

has shifted to comfort; I want it once more.