I'm afraid of a lot of things.
None of them are the boogeyman.
That creature is waiting under your bed
to meet you when the lights are off.
When the most hideous parts of them
aren't obvious right away.
I get that, boogeyman, I can relate.
Things I am afraid of
are a lot more common.
Gaining weight, a grown man crying,
an article about an abuse survivor
that contains the words
It still affects my current relationships.
I fear a story
in which a stubborn wound
does not stay stitched, but rips open
with the flex of a muscle.
Once a man
(who was barely not a boy)
gave me pills until I could not speak
then did what he did
with my lack of language.
I'm afraid he crawled inside me
and never really left my body.
I picture him waiting,
crouched in my throat
for the moment I am most in love
to reach his hands back out
and strike again.