Grandpa's Basement

I was once afraid

Of my grandparents basement.

The fear was kind of irrational,

But for a kid it was acceptable.

For years I would avoid going

To that basement alone.

If I did go by myself

I would hurry right up the stairs.

It wasn’t until four years ago,

When my grandpa died,

That I was no longer afraid

To go in the basement.

I felt some kind of comfort

Going down there,

Because he would spend

Lots of time down there.

He played Wii on the TV

Or on the computer in the office

Or went down just to pick out clothes

From his closet

In the room he never slept in.

I suppose

I was forced to face my fear

At some point or another.

But the reason it was easy

For me to face this fear

Is because I was forced

To face another.

I learned

That not all fears

Are caused by the fear

Of a thing itself,

But by our own minds

And what they make

These things out to be.