pain used to be
all lost toys
and skinned knees

pain used to be darkness,
monsters in the night,
all that was unknown –

i think knowing is scarier.

knowing
there is nothing in the closet
but skeletons
& your mother’s wedding dress,

knowing
the corpses that hang
from your family tree,

knowing
you could change
the whole damn world
if anyone
would just listen to
the song you scream.

knowing
in a left-brain way
that you are beloved
and hurting
in a right-brain way
just the same.

pain used to be
all lost toys
and skinned knees,

but the monsters,
they like daylight now,
and some days
they follow me.