Susan Jefferys-Marsden
1998

CHILDHOOD FEARS

Looking back into the yesterdays of childhood worriment.
Was I good enough to go to heaven?
Will Santa bring to me coal?
And does the tooth fairy give out dimes in France?

Elementary education enlightens the spectrum
Of ulcer digested memos.
Atomic bombs
Burglaries
Murders
And rape...something I will learn,
           “When you are older” but perhaps experience in the
              “seen but not heard stage”

Prayers each night
“Mr. Kruschev, sleep well tonight and not to push the magic button
By mistake.
Hourly checks of windows secure...so the cat burglar would not visit.

High school days of catastrophic skin conditions...vital to self
identity.
Would someone ask me to the prom?
Will I pass Spanish?
Do lifesavers take away tobacco breath?

University days.
Teachers as pals
Pals as teachers.
Wide eyed to ideologies
Blinded to realities.

Adulthood.
Faced with possible WWIII.
Israel, Syria, Egypt.
Eenie, meany, miny, moe.
Which allies will go?

Please, Mr. Brezhnev,
Sleep well tonight.
I’ve got all my windows sealed tight.

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