Frightened Poem by David Harris

Everyone gets frightened
at some point in their lives.
My greatest fear
may sound strange to anyone here.
I get frightened of my popularity,
don’t think I don’t enjoy it
because I do that is a fact.
I get a twinge of guilt
when I see someone
who just cannot succeed.
I know only too well
the sorrow they go through.
My friend JoAnn told me
her inspiration was on the wane.
To help her out I suggested
we write some together.
I mention the idea to our friend Meggie.
She asked if she could join us,
I said yes of course.
Now I’ve got more popular
it frightens me even more.
I’ve taken to self-mocking
to try and lower people’s opinion of me.
The problem is now
they dispute it all the time.
I think one of the reasons
why I get frightened is
all my life I’ve been at the back of the class
and now I’m near the front row
and that’s the scary bit.
I may joke about it,
but it’s no joke to me.
Getting more and more popular
scares the hell out of me.


1 February 2008