Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
An irrational fear of large or long words
Well, you might say that’s for the birds
And it’s your right to have your say
A hippopotamus for most of us
Is an Artiodactyla, an even toed ungulate
While monstrum in Latin means: unnatural things
A monstrosity, a warning from the gods
While as showoffs, sesquipedalians use long words
So don’t scare them with your Titan Arum
But say to those with Ithyphallophobia
Or to the megalophallian “Nostrvia!”
And don’t be calloused towards
What happens afterwards
Or averse to what happens after “words”
In the post coital spooning
Don’t let your creative inhibition
Be the condition of wrestling with tabula rasa
And don’t let coitus interruptus
Or a caudal Janus face give you writer’s block
(I’m trying to be a gentleman
by calling it a phallus and not a rooster)
So, you won’t find here this fear of
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
I notice you casually crossing to the other sidewalk
sly underhanded glances with your pinched lips ~
a biped's loud silent growl that says don’t come near me
So last night I did a thing
Only to chicken out at the end
Crowds usually I’m avoiding
In this circumstance I can’t blend
Amethyst heart beats so fast
Luckily you can’t see that
Poets like me who bleed indigo ink
Hoping to overcome fears with dreams
Onyx fears of social situations
Being paranoid of simple salutations
In my mind I plan to purple persevere
And in reality I gotta get out of here
Xenophobes don't approve of strangers.
They dramatize fearing what they don't know.
Prefer cages to overcoming phobias.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
math phobia?
ten minus X equals three
not me
I don’t fear it
yet I despise it to the ninth degree
I step inside, the air is tight,
A hundred eyes, too harsh, too bright.
Hands reach out, though none are there,
Still, I feel them everywhere.
My arms feel stiff, I can’t look up,
I wonder if I’m messing up.
Am I too fast, or moving slow?
Do they see the fear I try not to show?
A sudden laugh my stomach sinks,
My face is burning, my mind just blinks.
Not at me, but why does it sting?
The thought alone twists everything.
I try to move, to find a space,
To disappear without a trace.
But no escape, no quiet air,
The weight of watching lingers there.
Even when the room is bare,
Somehow, I still feel the stare.
Psychological condition
Having a tradition
Of taking a position
By way of petition
In the mental volition
Affecting one’s cognition
Drowning in Fear
This feeling of sudden, impending doom
corners me with strong arms.
A deep seated ache of guilt
for what wrong doing, I know not...
begins tearing at my insides
like a sharp toothed rat
with fire looming at its back
and no escape but through the walls of my stomach.
I'm weakened by constant struggle and resistance.
It is a vicious circle. Duty, responsibilities, expectations...
neglected to avoid that fear that hounds me.
Only to make the anxiety greater,
which in turn frightens me into phobia...
unreasonable fears.
These babes of my youth, then easier to command
and forced to overcome,
have grown into strong, cruel men
who laugh at my struggles...
binding me, immobile,
as dark waters flow over my head.
Firming up each knot I manage to loose
and pushing my head under
as they laugh and laugh and laugh.
you always notice black marks on the floor
checking, in case they scurried with evilness
but don’t look at me, no no no, I double-took
earlier and to be honest I’d rather carry the
village church up the stairs wearing flip flops
In marriage, there's fear
People always have regrets
Think mud in water.
His deep sunken eyes
Triggered to that old hang house
When night off get byes.
Life flows in the self-made furrow
You make from the known for tomorrow
The journey you dither to take beyond familiarity
For knowledge is a sense of security.
The challenges build daunting barrier
You strive boldly, but can't cross over
You may try to change the track to win
The venture you don’t risk for the unseen.
Some known roads will collapse for sure
You can no longer travel secure
In the unknown outside your domain
Things remote, out of sight they remain.
If you build your own road and are proud
It would soon be full of nameless crowd
Strangers would scramble and stay on
An act of intrusion you would reckon.
The mind coded to endure what you own
For the aliens, it gets signal unsafe and unknown
It closes in the clutch of confined fear in harness
You are scared of the unfamiliar otherness.
_____________
March 31, 2023
For A Brian Strand Premiere No 1205 Contest
One day while out walking
His left foot started talking
Within the space of one week
It was spouting in Classical Greek
Kept him awake that long night
Trying to converse with the right
Thermal socks failed to muffle
that dread voice
Leaving him with
only one unenviable choice
To save his sanity
before it was too late
A do it yourself kit
to amputate
So great his need
He did the deed
He survived but lives in fear
That one day he will hear
Whilst out walking
His right foot starting talking
Oh, without this jet phobia, here's what I'd do:
Go traveling to Bimini, then on to Peru.
We'd hop on an aeroplane, and be there by noon.
We'd take in the sights, hike up Machu Picchu.
It sure would be fun if I could go with you…
The aeroplane's my enemy; I know this is true.
The pilot's a nightmare, and I don't trust the crew.
I'd travel the world; wish that dream could come true.
To hurtle through space leaves me nerves all unglued,
And I lose my resolve just like smoke through a flue.
Can't break away on holiday; this fear, I can't lose.
So I flip on the telly, take a journey, then snooze.
—————
To the tune of “Pavement Artist” (also “Chim Chim Cher-ee”)
From the musical “Mary Poppins”
Written on 03/13/2022
Growing up, I never believed in monsters,
at least, not in the kind that lived under my bed
and in my closet.
No, the monsters I was terrified of
were the same ones my parents acknowledged:
the bus-stop child predators,
"bad people" on the news;
the most chilling collection of
scary stories made available.
Horrific fantasies were entertained during
bed-time;
I was gripped by the prospect of a lunatic
creeping in through my bedroom window &
slaying my family.
On a few instances, our town was plagued by
Grendels, of sorts.
Murderers, on the lam, who had chosen
our quiet, suburban streets to retire to.
Terrorized, my parents forbade me to even
go see my friends who lived next door,
unless I was accompanied by an adult.
No, I never believed in monsters,
in the classical sense.
The monsters I believed in
were absolutely real.
And I'm still afraid of them...
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