Monsters

ones we know

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

lock the doors
shut your windows tight
news media terrifies
learn self defense
all evils lurk outside

be careful
be safe
don’t stay out too late
learn everything there is to know
about what not to do

the monsters weren’t under my bed
they didn’t hide behind closet doors
nor were they imaginations
or in my sleep

the most dangerous places
are often within four walls
the ones in our own house
by ones we’re told
care about us

of all of the things i feared
as it turned out
it was not the random stranger
lurking in the night
to harm and steal

once i got away
and finally had space to breathe
i began to realize
fear nearly took me down
trauma is fire
burning from inside out