Learning to Breathe

The Devil, Denial and Day Terrors

I remember hearing voices in my head every morning when I would get out of bed. All through the day, they would whisper and play.

When nighttime came and I crawled into bed, they ran circles in my head. They were here to stay.

"It's just the devil." My mother had said. "He's only trying to mess with your head."

I believed her, I truly did. What had I done to make him so mad?

As I grew, the voices did too. One by one, they multiplied and the world in my mind was brand new.

I ignored it for a long time, for as long as I could, my father telling me that I should.

Denial is key, you see. Ignore your problems and they don't exist. Just let them be.

I'm in my thirties now and the voices have grown. They're real and they're alive and they surround me.

I feel them as they morph into so much more.

I feel them as they touch me, hear them as they laugh at me.

Oh, God, how could this be?

I run and I run, trying to get away. But, they're two steps ahead of me.

Around every corner, down every block, they're as consistent as a clock.

Why won't they stop?

"No!" I scream, "Don't you touch me!"

No one else can see them or they pretend that they don't.

They make me think I'm crazy but I know that I'm not.

Oh, God, when will these day terrors stop?