No critique please, just a homework assignment that I had fun with.
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When I was little,
I was afraid of monsters.
I imagined great beasts with sharp claws
And teeth designed to shred small girls.
I saw them everywhere I looked.
Under the creaky wooden bed…
Behind the slightly open closet door…
Even beside my reflection in the mirror.
Every night I would hide in my bed covers
Underneath the pink rose print comforter,
It seemed almost safe
Still, I knew they were right outside
Waiting, and watching.
It was only a matter of time.
But life didn’t stop for any night scares.
I grew older, started school, had new thoughts
There were other, worse troubles about; bullies
Who taught me life wasn’t fair, and I better toughen up
Soon, I could stare the night monsters down.
The drab sweater under the bed remained a sweater.
The dark coat behind the closet door remained hung.
The light reflecting in my mirror did not flutter as a ghost.
The night scares had passed, and I’m much older now.
Yet sometimes…
When I’m alone, at night, in my bed
I fancy there’s a monster standing in front of me
Big and ominous, daring me to look
But shady and quiet enough to not be there
The monster is bigger than when I was little,
But so am I. So I stare it in the face,
I gather my courage, and I dare it to look back.
And the monster of my mind disappears
