an army in the mind

we name our fears in order to deny these ghosts
the power they seem to have over our reason
our minds rebel, they commit the basic treason
of falling silent before these wispy hosts
which have no power yet speak in loud boasts
of how they've driven minds in season
and out beyond what the fearful eye sees on
a screen showing storms belabouring the coasts

terrors that we know cannot be real or true
that grab our hearts and gonads in a vise
and draw us down into the darkest hell
where we will be immured for not a few
years until at last thankful we realise
that those who know their limits do not tell