Where Did Your Monsters Hide

There are childhoods, and then there are childhoods,

And a million different degrees in between,

Forging future generations one child at a time,

Raising the world’s building blocks through the years.

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Some waltz through their younger years on unicorns and trains,

Sleeping within smiles and strong arms,

Happiness follows within their wake,

And family is the backbone of the person they become.

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Some were raised in nightmares of anger and cruel words,

Drunken rage and screaming fits,

Broken dishes, bruised thighs and sleepless nights,

To become survivors to the ninth degree.

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Their monsters weren’t hidden under the bed or tucked into dark corners,

No, they walked the halls, slept in the adjacent bedroom,

Dined at the dining table and watched TV,

Nothing outside their preview.

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They cooked us dinner, brushed our hair,

Watched our every move, our every word,

We tried to become invisible, a part of the furniture,

Avoided being the centre of attention.

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We grew to become the strength that we needed,

Totally self-sufficient, independent,

Wary of other humans, insecure and lacking trust,

Because we were taught it’s a tough old world.

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Day to day took on a life of its own,

Constantly in survival mode, no rest for the wicked,

Forever haunted by ghosts of the past,

While holding on tight to the last of our sanity.

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Some dispel their childhood monsters like a shed skin,

Leaving them where they belong; in their younger years,

Whereby others carry those monsters within their mind,

Forever tormented by their words running on repeat over and over again.