You said, “be not afraid”
but that was before
the Gatlin gun, the plague, AI, endemic cancer,
extreme weather, school shootings, weepy glaciers,
the Bomb, climate refugees,
the Big Collapse
and with you sleeping divinely
in the back of the galaxy
and the great sea
frothing rabid around life
I want to shake you awake
and ask if it’s true,
really true,
this your favorite imperative?