Joseph Szalinski Poet I do not know?

Creatures of the Night

Growing up, I never believed in monsters,
 at least, not in the kind that lived under my bed
and in my closet.
 No, the monsters I was terrified of 
 were the same ones my parents acknowledged:
 the bus-stop child predators,
  "bad people" on the news;
 the most chilling collection of 
  scary stories made available.
 Horrific fantasies were entertained during
  bed-time; 
 I was gripped by the prospect of a lunatic
  creeping in through my bedroom window &
 slaying my family.
   On a few instances, our town was plagued by
  Grendels, of sorts.
    Murderers, on the lam, who had chosen 
 our quiet, suburban streets to retire to.
   Terrorized, my parents forbade me to even
  go see my friends who lived next door,
 unless I was accompanied by an adult.
  No, I never believed in monsters,
 in the classical sense.
  The monsters I believed in
 were absolutely real.
And I'm still afraid of them...

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment