My Poetry

Monsters

When I was two, I was scared of the dark. I would lie in my bed, jumping at every car going past. I would cry when the wind whispered. I would scream when any shadow moved. When I was two, I was scared of monsters.

When I was three, I went to nursery. In nursery, I could basically do whatever I wanted. Many decided they wanted to talk to new people, I, on the other hand, wanted to sit in the corner and draw. Every time I drew, I drew the monster of my nightmares.

When I was five, I started school. We did a lot of art. Again, I drew the same monster, but in more depth. The monster was no longer a black blob on a page; it had long, lanky arms and eyes of red. If I had been more observant back then, I would have realised that my monster resembled someone.

When I was six, I asked my father to check my room for monsters. He would look under my bed, behind the curtain and in my wardrobe. It was the usual places for a father to look. But what struck me most of all was the fact that he looked into my full length mirror. Why did he look into the mirror?

When I was ten, I decided I was old enough to search my room for monsters alone, without my father. I checked where he checked. I looked for two minutes in each spot. Except the mirror. For ten minutes each night, I would look into the mirror, looking for monster. My brother would often taunt me, calling me self indulged. I knew I wasn't. I just wanted to find my monster.

When I was fifteen, I forgot about monsters. All I could think about was boys and girls, and what party I was going to. I did forget, until I looked into the mirror. I always looked in the mirror a fraction of a second longer than necessary. I always looked for my monster.

But now im twenty one, and I found my monster. I look into my mirror, then back at the drawing I made when I was six. The monster was me. And although the features on the monster were distorted, they were me.

When I was young and foolish, I learned that we are all monsters, on the inside. Monsters are scary, but once you understand them, they are no longer monsters.