I slept with the lights on until I was
18 years old
I'm not talking a night-light,
or even a lamp
I mean full light-switch flicked upwards
as if the light would keep me safe
from the demons under my bed
and in my closet
my mother, complaining of the power bill
mutters
"you started to do that when your father left"
me, 18
gone away to college
sleeps proudly with the lights
OFF
a pitch black room
no match for my new found
adulthood
my maturity,
is not up for battle with my emotions
until much later
dinner
silences
eyes darting back and forth
both me and my father
not knowing what to say to eachother
as if looking at a house burning down
not knowing where to aim the hose first
that night I went home
to my room in the house I grew up in
and I tried to turn off the lights, I did
but the shadows seemed too much like monsters
the rustling outside my window seemed too much like a banshee
so I crawled into bed
lights on
and went to sleep
YOU ARE READING
untitled
Poetrypoetry written by me over the last 3 years. embark on my journey with me - entry into nursing practice the death of my father moving to a new city
