The Darkness

I. If I had tooth decay, it would be a cavity. But this is a decay in my soul. An especially nasty creature deepens the hole daily: The demon of self-doubt. The demon of self-doubt is a strong taskmaster, Whispering in my ear: “Nothing you do will ever Be good enough.” Hammered down by its words, I am pushed to be better, stronger, faster to try to please it. But it will not be placated, nor silenced. In relationships, this is to my detriment. The demon mantra beats in my head, And when he doesn’t call, I blame myself. II. He says that I don’t trust him, that things haven’t changed. How do I make him see that it really isn’t him, it’s me? It is the ever louder rhythm Forcing me to give up and give in... The demon repeats “You are not good enough for him.” And that the reason we can’t make this work Is because I haven’t tried hard enough. But now I have reason to fight. His love makes me face myself, and turn on the light, For monsters only exist in the dark... And when I look in the mirror he provides for me, I only see myself. (but at a certain angle, my eyes glow red)