monsters

Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash

as a child, mama warned of monsters hiding under the bed

but no adults alerted me to the ones that end up lurking in your head.

i want to ask her why she never focused on those instead,

and then the gremlin in my noggin reminds me i can’t because she’s dead.

sometimes, i cannot alleviate the anger from feeling i have been misled

to the point where i’ll close my eyes and see red.

but i realize parents may not tell children about what they dread

because some things feel safer when they are left unsaid.

☼