often afraid

17.
Unexpectedly, late one night, a friend leans close to ask me what I want people to say about my poems after I’m gone.

I don’t ask what he means by gone. I dismiss the question. I change the subject, but the question stays with me for days until I come up with an answer.

His poems were fearless, though he was often afraid.

—Derek JG Williams, Poetry is a Disease (Greying Ghost, 2022)