What lurks in the night
I can’t write
In darkness,
The absence of light.
I can’t think, breathe, or otherwise exist
In the places that the light has missed.
Too many terrors come flying together
Seeking to leave me scarred forever.
You mean you didn’t see her??
How could you not?!
She’s right over there!
No, she’s moved to another spot.
There! Can’t you see her,
Bent all twisted in the night?
Her hands are reaching for you!
Quickly, turn on the light!
Whew! That was a close one
You almost made the plummet
Into her land of twisted reality,
So I had to save you from it.
Be wary of the shadows!
The light cannot reach over there.
In ’tween spots, her fellows
Wait for the chance
Your guard is down
Then they advance
Creeping ever closer, but
You’re blissfully unaware.
But I see them!
I see them!
Huddled in the black
They’re waiting in the darkness
Every time you turn your back.
I see them! I see them!
Hiding in the halls.
Lurking in the closets,
Scraping at the walls.
Begging to be unleashed
The moment you look away.
They feed on your every agony,
Discomfort, and dismay.
In the darkness, they steep,
Growing ever stronger
Every time you fall asleep.
I don’t know why they all seem to have
this aversion to the light.
The brightness seems to drain them,
Yet recharging every night.
Oh God, you don’t believe me!
The insanity unleashed!
So I must face the night alone,
Every time you are asleep.
She’s back again, I see her,
Standing in the kitchen.
A light to obliterate the night,
But still, another vision:
She’s under the table now!
I see her watching me!
Glaring with the deadest eyes,
Dear God! How does she see?!
Those hands...aren’t human hands,
Knuckles cracking as she beckons.
No! Stay away from me!
The hours turned to seconds.
Hurry! I scurry to turn on all the lamps
Send her away before she gets closer.
I will not give her another chance.
An hour til dawn,
night is almost over.
Outside, I now can hear the
roaring booms of thunder.
The lightning sizzling against the sky,
The storm seeks to pull everything under.
The booms,
the rain pelting hard against the roof
She’s watching me from the hallway,
With a stare both hungry and aloof.
Then a grin so wide,
I can see her rotting teeth.
Why is she smiling
So wildly at me?
Our eyes meet,
I will not turn my back.
Still staring at me,
I hear a sudden crack.
Tears in my eyes as I realize
The power’s gone out and
everything’s gone black.
Too late to fight,
not enough light.
I feel her breath against my neck.
The darkness suffocating me,
tasting me,
Leaving me hollow, meeting with death.
Here you appear, to check on me
Armed with a flash of light.
“Why?” I say. I grin: “I’m fine!
Wow that beam is bright!”
I wrap my hand around your hand,
Kiss upon your head.
Knuckles cracking as I reach the door:
“Come on, let’s go to bed.”
I do not fear the dark,
Only my imagination
Inflating and exaggerating
The unseen.
Imagination is the true terror.
What lies in wait inside my mind,
Brought forth in the absence of reality.
Piecing together horror after horror,
Made worse by nuggets of truth.
Darkness does not frighten me.
However,
The closing of my eyes
Does.
