Responsibility - Poetry

by Kathleen Chaney

Have you ever heard a baby’s first cry?

Or witnessed the mist of a father’s last sigh?

Wandered streets shaking without cold

Have you cringed in the night when nobody knows?

If you have you have known

Fear

Fear of uncertainty

Fear of being alone

It consumes, layers everything

But afraid?

It’s not what you have to be

The night is dark

And the trail is rigged

And the forest is in tangles

Trees dripping with hate and red tape

But for some reason

They gave me a flashlight

And I can get my hands on the map

So it seems that I could be your guide

Can I walk you through the maze?

If it makes your journey easier

I’d like to try

I just can’t leave you standing there

When it’s all here in my hands

What is worth doing

If not love for fellow being?

All my things will come and go

But help

That ripples, you see

And that’s my responsibility

Kathleen Chaney has a BA in psychology and is a first-year MSW student at IUPUI.