'Tis Not The Fear Of Death In Slumber Poem by Samah Khan

'Tis not the fear of death in slumber
That keeps me awake night after night,
But rather the thought of waking up
In another day just like the last-
That is the cause for my fright;

How could but a few days shatter illusions that
Had built within my breast for many a year?
How could every resolution, every dream,
Every hope be drowned in the intensity of a singular tear?

'Tis not the fear of losing hope
That keeps me awake night after night,
But rather the thought of waking up
In another day where there is still time to envisage
All that I yen for: that is the cause for my fright

Now I am fearful and afraid of an uncertain future,
Where there will be no telling one melancholy day from another;
And there will be no knight in shining armour, nor any saintly figure
Nor will there be forever the sanctuary of my mother

'Tis not the fear of loss
That keeps me awake night upon night,
But rather the thought of waking up and gaining something,
In company with the fear of losing it-
That is the cause for my fright;

And you may deem me a coward for this, my crude demise,
You may say I threw away fortune, for I threw away my life;
But in the clear limpid eyes of death I see sanctity
That in life was never mine to be;

So, 'tis not the fear of death
That keeps me awake night after night;
But the fear of living another day
That has rendered me vulnerable to a coward's flight