Lay Your Fears to Rest
There's a stranger they say who comes from nowhere,
wherever they go there's nobody who will
approach them or know them, not now, not ever;
instead locked inside all the villagers hide,
so that all they see is everybody's
doors, never faces, not mouths laced with fears.
The pastor preaches perseverance through fears,
for wherever the church-goers go, there's nowhere
their God won't protect them, yet everybody's
forever afraid, and there's nothing that will
convince this village that there's no need to hide
from the stranger whose name will not be known, ever.
At night, the stranger wanders the streets, ever
wondering why they must inspire such fears;
why do all feel the need to hunker and hide?
These fears, after all, have come from nowhere
but misheld beliefs and a defiant will
that what belongs to one is everybody's
apart from the stranger's. What is everybody's
problem with this desperate soul, will they ever
allow them to make themselves whole, will
they ever relinquish their outdated fears
that a stranger who nears from nowhere
is cause for an entire village to hide?
In time it's the stranger who learns to hide,
to make them think that they're gone, then everybody's
doors fly open, for they see them nowhere,
and they pray that the stranger forever and ever
may stay far away,
I will
hide
their fears,
everybody's;
it's clear that here there will ever
be a place for me nowhere.
And in their will, the stranger writes: "If everybody's
determined to hide all kindness then I will be ever
alone; let go of your fears, for you'll find me nowhere."
About Lay Your Fears to Rest
This poem was written for Professor David Morley's 'The Practice of Poetry' course, adopting and adapting the sestina. The narrative puts a spin on the archetypal 'A Stranger Comes to Town' story, imagining a town that seeks not to understand or expose the visitor, but to shun them.
Another important cornerstone of the poem is the stranger's mental health. The impact of social isolation has been brought into focus by the restrictions imposed throughout the world in response to the coronavirus pandemic. For many people, this loneliness was significantly detrimental to their mental health - the plight of the stranger in this poem explores the ultimate consequence of social exclusion, whether caused by medical necessity or societal prejudice.
Recorded on
DATE
Read by
Vance Hatton