Second Edit: Ordinary

[allisonkreid]

First Edit:

Ordinary

There are old fears like Bela Lugosi's
threatening accent and strange clothes,
or the dread of sirens, head under desk-
a curse against those godless Reds.
Then there are timeless fears: a spider
tickling your leg until it bites,
heights that nauseate worse than sour milk.
There's courage too, usually arriving
at the worst time like your mother's uncle,
who smelled of garlic and could only talk
in the language of the old country.

Original:
Ordinary

There's old fears like Bela Lugosi's
threatening accent and strange clothes,
or the dread of sirens, head under desk,
a curse against those godless Reds.
Then there's timeless fears, such as a spider
tickling your leg until it bites,
heights that nauseate worse than sour milk.
Of course there's courage too, usually arriving
at the worse time like your mother's uncle,
who smelled of garlic and could only talk
in the language of the old country.

Thank you. I enjoyed the theme, I just felt as though it was going somewhere but didn't quite get there. It was setting up for something like... There are those fears which xxx but then there are fears that yyy. I kept expecting to get to the to the interesting fear, but then the poem switched to a discussion of courage. Maybe remove the courage piece to tighten it up? There is plenty to focus on with the topic of fear.
I am also unsure about why Bela's vampire accent is an old fear. Is it because the movies are old or because we have always feared it since we were young? A further exploration of old vs young and how that ties into timelessness may be really interesting.

I hope this feedback is helpful. Thanks for sharing!