thriving and flourish

you see your name, not in lights

but over-lined, blackbook

listed the accused,

the fickle, the trickster

consort of those, undesireable

seeks to know the shadows

whether for protection

or an advantage

it says you want to know too much

when you want to know

what the shadows see and know

because i think they can see

me, too, if you think

sometimes, they tell me

don't be afraid of the dark anymore

you are safe here, sweet child

you are battle-worn

you are a wounded healer

you always have been

let me show you

you didn't believe it before

but you do and you say

now i AM a child of the night

and i am no longer afraid of the dark

and it feels so natural

more than fading in the lights

more than flashes ever have

so you lean into the darkness within you

and you know this is your power

it grounds you

knowing it is not you

who ought to have ever feared

but the things you ran from, before

more alive than ever, those

masters of disguise and things

they intended you to believe they hunt you

all the time running into overtime

night and day, afraid of sudden death

in such, confusing times

blended and switching

bait, with teeth

and a hungry taste for blood

flaring a wicked temper and melodramatics

but you don't know why

but now know you don't have to

you can stop running

you turn around to face it

and you see only yourself there

and you say to what is in front of you

i no longer fear you

i no longer fear the dark, and i won't

not myself or if you leave me

staring into each of their left eyes

every demon, each ghost

all the toxic romance

everything is still

until i break the eternity of silences

when i name them

one by one

at once, i must tell their stories of my life

the sacrifices that i be so wicked here

my grace and my wrath

how i found my it

what i had to do when

i tamed my feral, the hard ways

i did it, punished and conditioned

pain or nourishment

in keeping my perspective nimble

i do not ask or tell the eternal

i am as i am, sure in that

our minds know what our bodies need

so that may our souls be whole

thrive, and flourish