My chest tightens.
My breath shortens.
My heart palpitates.
My thoughts race.

Running away from something faster.

Trapped between life and death.
Bidding one or the other to come.
Hope betrays and
Faith fails.

And nothing is real except the fear.

And yet the sun creates its crimson curtain,
Signaling the intermission between the days.
And without conquering fear,
Beauty intercedes.

Calling to itself within me.
From grace, to grace.
Its rays bent,
To paint the clouds that once hid it.