El Virus del Miedo

They loved him, no more no less,
and every morning he removed
the thorns of sleep.
He swore and cursed
and got tangled in the wire
of the tame routine.

He lived like you or like me.
On Friday nights
he went to find his love.
He smoked calmly,
planned the week
and she took the cigarette from him
and kissed him.

And one day the fear virus bit him.
He understood that women
never have an owner.
And he feared that she would leave,
that the spring would run dry
without a reason.
He overcame the fear and missed the last date,
didn't pick up the phone
that howled on the nightstand.
And the fear of defeat
seized him like a cramp,
without a reason.

Hard, intense, and precarious...
He faced the work waves
every day.
And one morning cowardice
paralyzed him at the door
and he didn't enter the office.

He woke up again
and started the newspaper
like so many others - from behind.
He saw and felt the night
of the planet and its disaster,
he was afraid and decided
not to go out into the street.

And there you have him locked at home,
trembling like a child,
sealing the windows,
so as not to see, hear,
feel, notice life exploding outside.
For fear of feeling fear
he went to bed,
like a caterpillar he hid
and wrapped in blankets
he fell asleep,
he smoked the dream
and forgot the world
for fear of waking up.

He's still asleep.
The winters passed
and he's still hidden,
waiting for your embrace
to inoculate him with the vaccine
and eliminate the fear virus
and his madness.