Austin Reilly
And This Is by No Means a Comprehensive List
I’m scared of more time than I know what to do with
I’m scared of slow declines
I’m scared of inevitabilities
I’m scared of being direct
I’m really scared of acting my age
I’m scared of antiques
I’m scared of people who seem to be on top of things
I’m scared of abstractions
I’m scared of the last line
I’m scared of white coffee mugs
I’m scared of black coffee mugs
I’m scared of coffee
I’m scared of people my age in 10 years
I’m scared of wide-ruled paper
I’m really scared of boredom
Narcissism too
Starting sentences out with the first-person pronoun
I’m scared of being perceived
I’m scared of vibrant colors
I’m scared of my golden years
I’m really scared of my golden years
I’m scared of packing
I’m scared of what soda does to teeth
I’m scared of irony
I’m scared of coasters
I’m scared of aluminum blinds
I’m scared of thin shower curtains
I’m scared of fingerprints
I’m scared of standing behind the white, yellow, or red line
I’m scared of smooth jazz
I’m scared of fonts other than times new roman or calibri (body)
I’m scared of oat milk
Oats don’t have mammary glands
I’m scared of software updates
I still don’t know what RAM is
I’d like to hear a foghorn in real life
I’m scared of embers smoldering in dry grass, which strikes me as a very sane thing to worry about
I think it’s good that someone thought of smokey bear
I’m scared that I’ll forget what to do when I can leave my house
I’m scared of dating apps
I’m scared that people older than me mention the economy with solemnity
I’m scared that maybe I shouldn’t have kids
I’d like to re-watch Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood
That reminds me of Jay Jay the Jetplane
It’s been a while since I’ve played a flash game
I wish so many things didn’t feel like transgressions
I’m scared of keeping condoms in my wallet
I’m scared of physical calendars
I’ve found some easy hours, but should that make me feel guilty?
I’m not sure
There’s a lot I’m not sure about
—Submitted on 04/19/2020
Austin Reilly graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University in 2019. He will go on to study genomics at the University of Chicago. This is his first poetry publication.
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