Dark side of the moon

I have heard legends

about the dark side 

of the moon and

wondered about that which 

exists

in the shadows.

Most shadows can be expelled with light—

light of the sun,

light of a flame,

light of our hearts.

But that other side of the moon

we haven’t ever seen

except

for cryptic photos from a thousand thousand miles away,

what lurks there?

What lurks beyond the pale?

What lurks were we cannot go,

where we cannot see?

What lurks in the shadows we cannot melt away?

I know not all that reside in darkness

can be malevolent,

and I know what I cannot see might be

benevolent.

I cannot help but bear witness

to both fear of good and fear of bad,

fear of joy and fear of pain,

fear of the known and unknown alike.

More than anything else, the

fear of fear

itself sits deep in my guts.

The things I have heard about the dark side of the moon—

pyramids, ziggurats,

blood sacrifice and invasion,

plague, pestilence

and existential threat—

might be nothing more than nothing itself.

Yet,

when I stare up at the sky tonight,

tomorrow night,

every night moving forward,

I know what lies on the other side 

will haunt me.

Even if there comes a day when we can see that dark side,

old fears and old worries 

will still rumble in my guts.