Fear is the Belief in the Victory of Evil

For thousands of years since their fall from Grace,
The desperate demons learned to twist the straight,
To steal the unripe in the darks embrace—
What lacks Gods root, what bears no Graces weight.

They work through blood, through marrow of the spine,
To breathe a paralyzing, nameless dread,
To plant their whispers deep into the mind,
Till men believe the thoughts are theirs instead.

Those not led by the Grace of God Most High
Are blind in spirit, helpless to defy.
They do not see their souls slow, sick decline,
And so they fall—they cannot help but die.

They cannot help but sink into the deep,
Trusting their strength—so frail, so incomplete.
The undertow will drag them in its sweep,
Down to the depths where Light and Mercy cease.

To fear a thing but God is to believe
That evil wins—the madness of proud hearts,
Locked in the prison of flesh, deceived;
And to rise—not for the Holy Endowed,
Not for the Holy Wills own arts,
But for unending torment, never freed.

Fear is the faith that lets evil prevail,
Forgetting all things by Gods will are made well.
But trust in His hand—only this breaks the spell.

* * *

O Light of Light—
The path is narrow.
O dark of dark—
The gate is wide...
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

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Daniels Avatar
August 13, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Beautiful articulation of how fear works, Sergey. Good end rhymes. I like how you’ve included the way fear penetrates the body. This is a very powerful line : “ Fear is the faith that lets evil prevail,” Effective final stanza. I enjoyed this read today. ThkU for sharing. Sending Light to Russia from South Africa.
Dobrenkov Avatar
August 15, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Thank you, Ghairo! Fear can be both holy and sinful. By casting off the latter, a person becomes free in Christ. This poem has been set to music and performed by a solo vocalist and choir; you can find it on Bandcamp or SoundCloud by searching for the poem's title, the album title «The Ghosts», or the label name Live Wind ® Records
Dobrenkov Avatar
August 6, 2026 at 7:25 AM
One night, I was walking from my cell to the monastery library (to which I had the keys) in order to borrow another book on the Jesus Prayer. Then I was seized by such a preternatural fear—piercing to the marrow of my bones and throwing me into trembling and cold—as I had never experienced before. And after I returned, I had to struggle against it for about another hour. The quotation by Monk Herman (Podmoshensky), placed as the title of this poem, expresses the very essence of such a state, brought about by the activity of demons through God's permission.
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