Humans have this tendency to experience fear
At the most random of occasions.
Not just this monster-under-the-bed-
Man-behind-the-shower-curtain kind of cheap fear.
But real, genuine fear of life, and reality.
And this fear, I don’t know what’s scarier:
The fact that more and more nowadays
Everyone seems more fearful,
Or the fact that I will slowly but surely
Join them in this mutual cowardice.
No matter what, we all find ourselves with this fear.
There’s no escaping it.

That’s why there are suburbs, and shopping malls,
Reality television and a game show network.
Just excuses we use to escape reality.

But there’s a War going on, in case we’ve forgotten,
And everyday soldiers are dying.
Young boys, that are hardly men, are leaving to
Fight an uncertain enemy in an uncertain terrain,
For what seems like now, an uncertain cause.

And we’re the ones that are afraid.

We have nothing to lose compared to these men.
These unspoken victims of war, full of fear,
These men that we ignore
Because we don’t want to hear,
What these men seeking solace have to say.
They just want comfort, someone with kind ear.
Yet no one seems to have a moment to spare.

So let me tell you what they do.

These men return home after seeing houses demolished
By suicide bombers that took innocent lives.
They come back with raw images of friends in an armored tank,
Smiling and laughing at one moment,
And cold and lifeless the next
After a fateful drive past a rigged sand bank.

And we’re the ones that are scared of the afternoon commute.

We don’t accept what we’re afraid of.
We reject it to find something easier for us to take.
Censorship is deemed acceptable
When it takes these fears and hides them away.

But I will not stand for that anymore.
I won’t let these stories go untold.
These stories of extreme bravery,
And combating depravity.
These stories need to be told,
Are begging to be heard.

I want to be on the front lines,
My feet in boots, firmly planted in the sand,
Beads of sweat rolling from my face
And down my back.
I want to experience this, overwhelm this fear,
Do something different,
And be a hero for our heroes.

That’s why I’m a journalist.
I don’t fear what needs to be said.
I say it,
And I make damn sure you hear it.

Cause that’s what journalists do.