Sunday Stanza: Poem Nineteen- Stages Of Denial By Hannah Williams

Stage one is characterised by fear.
The entity that floats to a mind.
Inviting itself in and out like a comfortable family friend.
It tells you what cripples you.
Debilitating your ability to trust yourself.
Once fear has marinated in your mind.
Then you can progress to the next stage.
Welcome to projecting your fear through bitterness.
You start telling others, you cannot do that.
The well- crafted response drown in ‘venomness’.
As fear told you, you decide to tell others.
Once you wallowed in your bitterness, progress in your denial.
Welcome to hatred.
For you can see a glimpse of their hope.
Flickering like flames on a candle.
Love is the light.
Hate is in your eyes.
Yet you know one is stronger.
And it’s not yours.
The hate eats every tissue, sinews and bones in your body.
Never finding the serenity in change.
You lie down each day telling yourself that life will always be this way.