A Creature in the Corner

Fear.

The mess of tangled thoughts, mangled anxieties, strangled shouts

That invades your brain

On quiet nights.

Fear.

It takes shape now,

As a Creature in the corner

Looming over your slumped shoulder, as you

Drain the last of the coffee from your favorite mug, in a

Desperate bid to stay awake; your work is still unfinished

Your studying still not done.

Fear.

You wince as you notice the time

And shiver as you notice how dark it is

In your room.

You worry, stress, and doubt;

All the while it sits, lounging, smirking.

Fear.

It lurks in the back of your own mind

Following, haunting.

When you are weak and vulnerable,

That's when it rises, takes over, launches an attack:

Swift and calculated, it

Breaks.

You.

Down.

Fear.

But suddenly,

Something else appears

A different sort of something...

At the window, something that you've been pushing down,

Suppressing in the depths of your consciousness,

In the pit of your soul.

You recognize it now

It strengthens and grows,

Lighting up your room, your thoughts,

Your heart.

Hope.

Hope, you realize, that has always been there.

Hope, that even while hidden away, was strong;

Stronger than the lowest point, the darkest room, the worst nightmare

Hope, stronger than anything, everything that

Fear could throw at you.

Hope.

Fear, once a Creature in the corner

Overwhelming, agonizing, oppressing,

Now cowards in the shadow

Of this new, reckless light

Hope.

It sits down, cross-legged on the floor

Glowing, it's kind face looks up at you, smiles gently.

It shines almost too bright to look at,

But you smile back.

Hope.

Fear, what Fear?

Fear, now shriveled and forgotten.

In its place

All that is left, is

Hope.