Wonderful Monsters

They come in the dark

When the clock strikes two

When I’m tucked away in bed

They make their debut

The sky turns bright orange

My head turns to static

Light on the walls

Flicker shadows erratic

They seep under the window

And door like smoke

They reach out striped tendrils

Their talons evoke

Crazy thoughts tucked

Away for the day

Mortal insecurities

That incite me to pray

A novel I had once

Aspired to write

Vibrating wings bound

Down to break flight

Dreams of the future

Regrets of the past

A lost opportunity

Every face a mask

A boy captured in

Youthful idealism

Set aside thanks to

A taste for surrealism

Dali whose spidery

Elephants stand tall

Far above our small lives

They must see it all

Like those long-legged beasts

Snickering at my bedside

Sending sparks as they laugh

They feel complied

To disrupt my slumber

My health and wellbeing

With addictive mind tangents

And neon zigzags guaranteeing

A sleepless night

A wasted day

In which feeling exhausts me

And emotions are held at bay

So as they laugh and they torment

I am left with no choice

Because while the visions enchant me

In my head a voice:

“Don’t give into the darkness

The confinement of now

Come morning the sun will

Scare them off anyhow”

So I open my box

And a soft golden light

Sucks them away

Like egg yolks out of sight

I lock up the box

Stow away the key

So my wonderful monsters

Will never find me