Fear Of The Dark Poem by Barry Middleton

I will admit I fear the dark,
but not for what is hiding there.
I fear a nothingness in death,
an emptiness without despair.

For when at last I cease to be,
and all I ever was is gone,
with consciousness forever lost,
there is no darkness and no dawn.

So men must crave eternity,
and swear the soul will live anew,
because we fear the silent void,
the cold, indifferent, vacant blue.

It is indeed a pleasing tint,
and painted on the vaulted sky
ephemeral as hope and grace,
on which they say I should rely.

And yet I fear the dark beyond
not just the end of earthly breath.
Atomic souls return to dust
most unaware of endless death.