The Mind-Killer

Leather coils and grips
It unfurls like liberty
To seize and contain

It moves in silence
Loyal to the holder
Twisting to maintain

It sings, swimming in your thoughts
Gliding to be at your side

Slipping around you,
To kiss you goodbye

It chills you, reveals you
It fulfills and repeals you

But it does not destroy emperors or put food on the table
It does not make the road brighter

It is not a friend, but a thing we must slay
For fear is a leather thing, made to fray