Using one imperative and one abstraction, students and I drafted several extended metaphors, using Harrison's poem as a model. I then read my own poem written to Tyler, the protagonist in Ritter's Over the Wall . Fear is ignorance dressed in its Sunday best. Fear is the sound of a father's silent grieving. Scale the wall.
Fear is the absence of truth and compassion.
Fear is plastered with layers of self-doubt. Scale the wall. Fear is a universal companion to sensitive souls. Fear is simply a one-syllable word begging to be replaced. Scale the wall.