Phobia Poem by Douglas Scotney

We tend to the Greek for the name of a fear.

Unless we know it
when we hear it or see it
we don't know what it is.

Batrachophobia for example.

An androgynophobe:
one might fear both women and men
or manly women or womanly men.

We don't think hippophobia is fear of hippies
(there weren't any of those back then.)
We think it's fear of the hippo.
If it was that,
what would be fear of the horse?

Back to batrachos: if you knew it,
you'd say, 'That's a frog, of course.'