There once was a girl who shut herself away.
She locked all the doors and closed all the windows
But the monster still found her, and they
Tricked her into believing things that weren't true
About herself and they persuaded her
That she could not believe all that she knew
Because, really, she had nobody-she was alone,
Even though she had people she called friends,
The monster said those friends were not real; they'd moan
About her behind her back with disgust.
She had nobody, so no one would miss her if
She shut herself away until she turned to dust.
Then, she would still be nothing. These were
The lies that the monster whispered,
Groaned and sometimes even screeched in her
Ear until she believed the monster's words,
Until she was just as lonely as the monster was,
Until no one noticed that her voice was no longer heard,
That she had vanished from the Earth completely.
Soon, the monster assured her, her friends would forget
All about her as she slowly vanished discreetly
Into nothing. But she was already nothing so
It would not make a difference: she would still be nothing.
She still is nothing. No one would miss her so she might as well go
Where she may live in solitude with the monster,
She raised, and the monster would cease to be lonely or ignored, for
How can she ignore the monster when it's just the two of them forever?
When it's just the two of them, she will have to listen.
The monster will have won the game. It will laugh
At its new friend as her hands shake and her eyes glisten,
As she changes so that she is not nothing any longer,
Because the monster will remain a part of the girl forever,
As she shuts herself away, and the beast grows stronger.
