today the doubt speaks louder than the dream.
i can still hear the dream,
see its shape,

but the doubt i can feel.

it's not the monster you might imagine it to be,
the way that some describe it-
a four-armed beast that can squeeze your
heart, stomach, and lungs
all at the same time,
laughing and ridiculing your every thought.

doubt's nothing like that.
no, doubt is just a scared little kid
that holds tightly to your hand,
half hiding,
            half tugging at you,
afraid that you'll both be swallowed up
in the unknown.

just now he's cowering in behind me
as we both stare into the edges of view
where light fades to shadow,
                                              shadow
                                                        into empty dark.

and in the silence
he stands on his tiptoes to whisper into my ear
of all the greedy little things
that lurk behind these shifting shadows.