The Short List

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We dread fear but we love lists.
We love lists and the shorter they are,
the less to dispute, and the more we should agree.

So I present a short list about our personal fears.
A very short list.

#2: Fear of the dark 
#1: Speaking in public

The dark and the public. 
Synonyms or antonyms? 
That is the question.

In the absolute dark, all eyes are helpless.

Opened or closed,
they see the same thing.
The same blackness or emptiness.
The Unknown.

Speaking in  public, only  your eyes are helpless
because all other eyes are looking at you.

Your two eyes are not so much helpless
as totally dependent upon the  Third Eye,
the mind/body/spirit thingy:
your personal puppet master.

If it pulls all the right strings
and all your words are in the right order
and  body language provides all the punctuation marks
then fear not that public audience as it applauds with approval.

But, at that moment,  the  question becomes...
What is the antonym of worst fear imaginable?


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Footnote
Originally written in 1998, THE SHORT LIST is the copyrighted property of LCSoL.
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