Confronting Shadows

I’m scared of the dark When it’s dark our minds can wander Creating objects and people that don’t exist Anything or anyone could be hiding behind and object that we can’t see behind, waiting Waiting to creep up to our bed and attack The moment a floorboard creaks or a shuffling noise is heard we climb under the duvet The duvet is like a shield, a safe place away from the danger, We reach for the light switch or a torch, our heart beating like a drum in our chest and our stomach twisted into a knot, We fumble with the switch and shine the light around the room, Praying what we fear isn’t there, We take a sigh of relief when we see we are alone, It was just a mouse between the floorboards, or the wind whistling through a semi-open window, But sometimes if the torch isn’t there, or the light switch is beyond the battlefield we’ve created in our head, We have to confront our shadows, We have to confront our fears, We can’t waste our life worrying about something that isn’t there, A situation that isn’t happening, We can’t waste opportunities because we assume the outcome will be terrible, We have to take a deep breathe, put the torch away and know everything is as dangerous and frightening as we think.