Damn those monsters under your bed;  the ones that keep you up at night.  

Because you won’t tell me their names, I don’t know how to befriend them.  You try so hard to fight them on your own; that by the time the sun rises and I see you again, you are bruised, battered, beaten, bitter and worn.  They are winning your energy, and I am losing you.

Those monsters under your bed, the dangerous ones I know you don’t trust. The sleepless nights you have, trying to keep one eye open for them.  Despite your best efforts, they steal and loot from you anyway.  I see the bags under your eyes and the clutter on your table.  They’ve got you completely out of sorts and turned upside down.  I use to think it was you that I was starting to resent, but this isn’t you, it’s your condition; the condition these monsters are leaving you in.

These monsters under your bed, they’ve already taken so much:
your mobility
your strength
your hearing
your eyesight
your hope
your joy
your tenacity
your humanity.
These monsters under your bed are stealing from me too,
they are taking you.

If I knew how to catch them, I’d come over with traps. If I knew how to kill them, I’d set out the baits.  But until you stop holding them so close to you, I won’t be able to find them.  It’s like you are inadvertently protecting them – your inability to express your vulnerability or tell me where it  hurts keeps them feeding off of you when we aren’t looking; and all we can do is sit around during the day and replenish your coffee.

It's hard to love you when you are in survival mode, but I get it. Those monsters under your bed are scary and wreaking havoc; and it’s a war you are fighting alone. I wish you’d invite us in and let us bring these monsters into the light.  We could burn them or hang them or pray them away.  We could kill them or settle them or medicate them away.  We could expose them, address them or resolve them away. What are their names? Is one Fear? Regret? What about Shame or Powerlessness? Is there one called Losing Autonomy? Mortality? You don’t have to face them alone, tell me their names and I promise you we’ll conquer them.

Monsters under our beds are tough because they wage battles no one else sees.  But the minute we share them, is the same minute they start to fade. There is power in truth and light in love.  We either let people in to let monsters out, but either way, one side is bound to win…

I hope you choose us. <3