Fear

It is when you
Climb the stairs
Late at night
Going home from work
That all the ghost stories
That you have heard
And the spooky films that you have seen
Pop up in your mind
With perverse timing.
It is then that the tap of chappals
Hitting the steps
Sounds like someone following you
The wind in the trees
Is like someone calling you in a whisper
The growl of the AC unit
Is like an angry spirit
Out to spite you ---
It is then that you see with a shock
That something in you
Still remembers the cave and the forests
Keeps you wary in the dark
Pricks its ears for the leap of animal
Hum of arrow or swish of sword.