Bated Breath

I really enjoyed this! I like the idea of trying to relax around a campfire, something that's comforting and using that as a way to feel safe. But at the same time everything is falling apart, and you try to forget or to make it easier. It's good! Great job!

I've read this every day and have been waiting for the perfect time to comment. I feel like this had such layers, and it's not explicitly spelled out for the reader, but it's more than imagery and atmosphere you give. The hesitancy that links to the title, the anticipation, the fear. I read this initially as each stanza giving way to more trepidation, more caution. The first stanza is so pure, complete bliss, and then the further realizations that the knowledge and awareness of the chaos in the world makes us vulnerable. We can't look away, we can't NOT be a part of it.

"Chew the fat and
chill the bones."

- Such stark words. I looked up "chew the fat", which is an expression I hadn't heard of for gossiping or making small/informal talk? I liked the inclusion of "stirring the pot", and how it kind of keeps to the theme of the campfire yet can be interpreted in different ways. Usually, when I hear reference to someone stirring the pot, they are doing so out of boredom, to get a reaction out of someone or to just start an argument. Here, I kind of take it as inviting discussion, something, to take one's mind off of the fate of the world... when it can feel like it will just be a continuous cycle of fear and losing hope, so you cling to what you can. "our fears can't be eased with closed minds" was probably my favorite line. As easy as it may be to simply shut down, or let our mind focus on the less problematic things in life, take a trip away and "vacation" so to speak, the fears will still be waiting for us. Though we all need rests at some point, we have to address the unrest, no matter how hesitant we are at first.

Seriously enjoyed reading this!