swallow me whole

the air is always sweeter past midnight

illuminated by streetlights

the world is silent

deadly

I don’t fear the dark

or the people in it

I’ve seen the worst they can do

they have nothing to hide

I fear the monsters

the one’s of my imagination

they start to come out of the shadows

after several sleepless nights

black and tall, pitiful sunken eyes

they watch me from the hallway

echoing my reflection

please don’t follow me into the dark

waiting for me

wanting to swallow me whole

I sink to the ground on the side of the road

hiding behind an electrical post

leave me in the dirt

never coming too close

they never speak, they only watch

they want to pull me down with them

drag me out of my mind through my eye sockets

take my thoughts to a different place

I’m not ready to leave yet

I walk from the airport fields to the store on the corner

18th street deli

open late into the night

monsters can’t follow me inside

they watch from the windows

patient

sleep puts the monsters back into hiding

but to sleep is to dream

one must decide which is worse

I should know, for I’ve tried

I tore off the closet doors

and put my mattress on the floor

nowhere for monsters to hide

so they turn invisible

or watch from the crack under the door

they’ll drive you insane

taking on new forms

sneaking up behind your reflection

growing bolder

a flash of a child in perfect detail disappears around the corner

a woman in all white

they watch you

Melatonin cannot ease my aching bones

Benadryl cannot lull me to sleep

Hydroxyzine worsens the fog

wake up