Adjudge Dread

Dread’s an unpleasant feeling.
Is it inevitable,
Necessary, valuable?

Dread of suffering
Drives the evaluation
Of events as good or bad.

That it’s possible to see
Terrible events devolve
From the finest, the finest

Derive from the worst,
That it’s possible to have
Pessimists and optimists,

Hints that bad and good
Possess no essence
Beyond interpretation.

But dread’s an unpleasantness,
Not an interpretation,
Not an evaluation,

Unless in the flesh.
Is dread good or bad?
That’s an evaluation.

Then can dread be evaded
By refusing good and bad
Evaluations?

You can see why so many
Focus on fate, prayer, God’s will,
Stillness, living in the now.

Cut interpretation off
At the head, refuse
To evaluate, to guess,

Event by event,
What will lead to what’s dreaded,
What will turn out for the best.

Dread’s an unpleasant feeling
We would prefer not to feel.
Good or bad have no meaning
Dread has not revealed.